Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show 2026

The Toowoomba show holiday fell on Friday 27 March 2026 for most of the Toowoomba Regional Council area. Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar are carved out and took the Royal Queensland Show holiday on Monday 10 August instead.

Most recent date: Friday, 27 March 2026. Applies to Toowoomba region, except Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar. 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 2 separate days are appointed here. Find the row that matches the district your workplace sits in.

ShowDistrict2026 date
Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show
Toowoomba region: Toowoomba Regional Council area excluding Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areasFriday 27 March
Already passed
Royal Queensland Show
Takes the Ekka day instead
Toowoomba region: that part of the Toowoomba Regional Council area comprising Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areasMonday 10 August
Future dates are not yet set. The 2027 date is not yet appointed. Queensland appoints show holidays one year at a time. Over the last five years the Toowoomba day has moved between 25 March and 19 April, so the weekday is a reliable pattern and the date is not. 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
2022
Friday25 March
2023
Friday31 March
2024
Friday19 April
2025
Friday28 March
2026
Friday27 March
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:

Toowoomba region: Toowoomba Regional Council area excluding Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areas

The Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show has run since 1860 and is the largest regional show in Queensland. Queensland appoints show holidays by district rather than by council area, which matters here more than almost anywhere else in the state: the Toowoomba Regional Council area is split, and the northern communities of Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar are explicitly excluded from the Toowoomba day. They are appointed the Royal Queensland Show as their show holiday instead, and take it in August.

One council area, two different public holidays. If you work in Toowoomba city you took Friday 27 March. If you work in Yarraman, Upper Yarraman or Cooyar you worked that Friday and took Monday 10 August instead. Same council, same rates notice, different gazetted day, and the entitlement follows the place you are based for work rather than where you live.

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

Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show questions.

The entitlement questions people ask most about this day.

When is Toowoomba show holiday in 2026?
There is no single date. 2 separate show holidays are appointed across this region: Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show, Friday, 27 March 2026, for Toowoomba region: Toowoomba Regional Council area excluding Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areas. Royal Queensland Show, Monday, 10 August 2026, for Toowoomba region: that part of the Toowoomba Regional Council area comprising Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areas. Which one you get depends on the district your workplace sits in.
Who gets Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show as a public holiday?
It depends which district you work in, because this region has more than one appointed show holiday: Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show, Friday, 27 March 2026, for Toowoomba region: Toowoomba Regional Council area excluding Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areas. Royal Queensland Show, Monday, 10 August 2026, for Toowoomba region: that part of the Toowoomba Regional Council area comprising Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar areas. 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 Toowoomba Royal 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 Toowoomba Royal 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 Toowoomba Royal 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 Toowoomba Royal 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.