Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show 2026

There is no single Sunshine Coast show holiday. The former Caloundra area took Friday 29 May 2026 for the Maleny Show, the former Maroochy Shire took Friday 12 June for the Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show, and the Shire of Noosa takes Friday 11 September for the Noosa Show.

Most recent date: Friday, 12 June 2026. Applies to Three different dates, depending on which part of the coast. The 2026 date has already passed. The date above is the most recent confirmed occurrence.

Confirmed dates

This region does not have one show holiday. Queensland appoints show holidays by district, and 3 separate days are appointed here. Find the row that matches the district your workplace sits in.

ShowDistrict2026 date
Maleny Annual Show
Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Caloundra City CouncilFriday 29 May
Already passed
Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show
Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Maroochy ShireFriday 12 June
Already passed
Noosa Show
Shire of NoosaFriday 11 September
Future dates are not yet set. No 2027 dates are appointed yet for any of the three. Queensland appoints show holidays one year at a time, and because these are three separately appointed districts they will not necessarily move together. Treat any 2027 date published elsewhere as an estimate.

When it has fallen before

With no appointed future date, the run of past appointments is the best guide available. This is evidence of a pattern, not a forecast, and the pattern has broken before.

YearDayDate appointed
2023
Friday16 June
2024
Friday14 June
2025
Friday13 June
2026
Friday12 June
Dates and scope verified against Queensland Government, Show holiday dates (Queensland Government), checked 7 August 2026.

Who actually gets the day off

This is a regional public holiday, so it does not cover the whole of Queensland. The gazetted scope is:

Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Maroochy Shire

The Sunshine Coast has three show holidays because it has three shows and a complicated council history. The 2008 amalgamation merged Caloundra, Maroochy and Noosa into one regional council, Noosa then de-amalgamated in 2014, and Queensland kept appointing the show holidays against the original district boundaries throughout. The result is that a single stretch of coast runs on three separate public holiday calendars, and the boundaries are the pre-2008 ones rather than anything on a current council map.

Which day you get depends on the pre-2008 council area your workplace sits in, not on the address being "Sunshine Coast". Caloundra, Landsborough and Maleny take the May date. Nambour, Maroochydore and Mooloolaba take the June date. Noosa Heads, Tewantin and Cooroy take the September date. An employer with sites in Caloundra and Maroochydore owes two different public holidays to two sets of staff.

If you are outside that area, your normal Queensland public holiday calendar applies instead, and this day is an ordinary working day for you.

What you are paid

If you do not work the day and it is a day you would ordinarily work, you are paid your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. That obligation sits in the National Employment Standards, not your award, so it applies whether or not an award covers you.

Fair Work Act 2009, section 116: an employer must pay an employee at the employee's base rate of pay for the ordinary hours the employee would have worked had the day not been a public holiday. Section 114 gives the right to be absent, subject to a reasonable request to work.

If you do work it, the penalty rate comes from your award or enterprise agreement rather than the NES. Customer-facing awards commonly set public holiday rates between 200% and 250% of the base rate. Work out what a specific day is worth with the public holiday pay calculator, and check your own award on the modern award pay pages.

Casual employees are the common exception. A casual has no ordinary hours, so there is nothing to be paid for on a day not worked. A casual who does work the day gets the public holiday penalty rate in the award, usually on top of casual loading. The casual versus permanent guide sets out how the two interact.

If it falls during your annual leave

You keep the day. A public holiday that falls inside a period of paid annual leave is not deducted from your balance, so a week of leave containing this holiday costs you four days of leave rather than five.

Fair Work Act 2009, section 89: if a period of paid annual leave includes a day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that day.

That phrase, "the place where the employee is based for work purposes", is what makes a regional holiday like this one worth checking. It is your work base that decides the entitlement, not your home address. Model the effect on a balance with the annual leave calculator.

Other Queensland show holidays

Queensland appoints 98 district show holidays a year, more than every other state combined, and none of them is statewide. If you work across more than one district, or you are running payroll for sites in several, the Queensland show holidays directory lists every appointed date and district for 2026.

The most commonly confused day is the Royal Queensland Show, the Ekka. It is not Brisbane only: the City of Brisbane takes it on the Wednesday and 15 further districts take it on the Monday. Districts with their own show, including this one, take that instead and get no Ekka day at all.

For the full Queensland calendar including every statewide date, see public holidays in Queensland, or start from the Queensland leave calculator for annual leave, long service leave and final pay under QLD rules. For every state at once, see the public holidays hub and public holidays 2027. If you are planning leave around it, the long weekends page shows which dates fall next to a weekend, and a public holiday inside a booked break does not consume your balance: check it on the annual leave calculator.

Q & A

Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show questions.

The entitlement questions people ask most about this day.

When is Sunshine Coast show holiday in 2026?
There is no single date. 3 separate show holidays are appointed across this region: Maleny Annual Show, Friday, 29 May 2026, for Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Caloundra City Council. Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show, Friday, 12 June 2026, for Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Maroochy Shire. Noosa Show, Friday, 11 September 2026, for Shire of Noosa. Which one you get depends on the district your workplace sits in.
Who gets Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show as a public holiday?
It depends which district you work in, because this region has more than one appointed show holiday: Maleny Annual Show, Friday, 29 May 2026, for Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Caloundra City Council. Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show, Friday, 12 June 2026, for Sunshine Coast region: the area of the former Maroochy Shire. Noosa Show, Friday, 11 September 2026, for Shire of Noosa. Under the Fair Work Act the test is the place where you are based for work purposes, not where you live.
Do I get paid if I do not work on Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show?
Yes, if it is a day you would ordinarily work. Section 116 of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires payment at your base rate of pay for the ordinary hours you would have worked. Casuals are not paid for a public holiday they do not work, because they have no ordinary hours.
What am I paid if I work on Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show?
Public holiday penalty rates come from your award or agreement, not the National Employment Standards. Rates commonly run between 200% and 250% of the base rate in customer-facing awards. Check your specific award, because the NES sets no penalty rate of its own.
What if Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show falls during my annual leave?
You do not lose the day. Section 89 of the Fair Work Act says that if a public holiday falls inside a period of paid annual leave, you are taken not to be on annual leave that day, so it is paid as a public holiday and not deducted from your leave balance.
Can my employer make me work on Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show?
Only if the request is reasonable. Section 114 of the Fair Work Act gives you the right to be absent on a public holiday, but an employer may make a reasonable request for you to work, and you may refuse if that request is unreasonable or your refusal is reasonable. The Act lists the factors, including the nature of the work, your personal circumstances and how much notice you were given.