There are few events on the Brisbane calendar that cut across generations quite like the Ekka. For 150 years, the Royal Queensland Show has been doing exactly that — drawing families, farmers, foodies, and first-timers through the gates of the Brisbane Showgrounds for nine days of something that is genuinely difficult to replicate anywhere else.

This year’s milestone — the 150th anniversary — runs from Saturday 8 to Sunday 16 August 2026, with the Brisbane Show public holiday falling on Wednesday 12 August.

For those living in Newstead, Teneriffe, and the inner north, the Showgrounds isn’t just a venue — it’s a neighbour. And that proximity is one of the quietly underrated advantages of life in this precinct. The RNA Showgrounds at Bowen Hills sits moments from the suburb boundary, meaning residents can walk, ride, or take a short Uber rather than navigate cross-city traffic.

What to Expect in 2026

The 150th brings an expanded entertainment program, with headline performers, a renewed focus on Queensland agriculture and produce, the beloved woodchop, the iconic strawberry sundaes, and showbags that somehow never go out of fashion. The fireworks display this year is expected to be one of the most significant in the show’s history.

A Note on the Showgrounds’ Future

The Brisbane Showgrounds precinct is also one of the most significant urban renewal sites in the city’s Olympic pipeline. Selected as one of the Athletes’ Villages for the 2032 Games, the site will ultimately be converted into thousands of new homes and community spaces — a transformation that further cements Bowen Hills and its surrounding suburbs as one of the most consequential growth corridors in southeast Queensland.

For residents of our buildings — One Oak, Lucent, Le Bain, The James, Luminare, and the soon-to-complete Fontana — that’s not just a good reason to enjoy the show this year. It’s a reminder of why where you live is only becoming more valuable.

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From all of us at Cavalé — enjoy the show.

There is a particular kind of tension that comes with buying something when you do not know what you are getting. The Incognito Art Show has built an entire experience around that feeling — and this weekend, for the first time, it comes to Brisbane.

More than 12,000 original artworks. Every single one priced at $100. And the catch — or the thrill, depending on how you look at it — is that you will have no idea who made the piece you are taking home until you turn it over after purchase.

How It Works

The Incognito Art Show invites submissions from artists at every level — emerging talents, mid-career creatives and some of Australia’s most celebrated names. Each artist receives three A5 cards on which to create their work. Every piece receives a unique code, is catalogued online for preview, and is then displayed anonymously on the walls of the venue.

On sale day, you choose based purely on what you see in front of you. No name. No price ladder. No prestige attached. The artwork earns its sale on its own merits — which is exactly the point.

The artist’s identity, and often a personal message, is revealed on the back of the piece only after you have bought it. You might walk away with something by a nationally recognised artist whose work normally sells for thousands. Or you might discover a new voice entirely. Either way, $100.

Brisbane’s First Time

Now in its sixth year nationally, 2026 marks the first time the Incognito Art Show has come to Brisbane — joining Sydney and Townsville as part of a three-stop east coast tour. The show launched in Sydney in 2020 with 1,800 submissions and has grown to 39,000 this year.

The original Irish version has attracted works by Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Tracey Emin and Ronnie Wood. The Australian edition has been steadily building its own mythology.

All profits from the 2026 Brisbane show go to organisations supporting artists with disability, including Access Arts in Brisbane.

The Details

The show is at Long Island Brisbane — right in the heart of Newstead, at 10 Festival Place (accessible via 18 Longland Street on foot).

Viewing (free): Tuesday 22 – Friday 24 July, 10am – 4pm

Sale — Saturday 25 July: 8am – 7pm
Sale — Sunday 26 July: 9am – 4pm

Online sale opens 6pm Sunday 26 July at incognitoartshow.com

You are limited to three artworks per person. First in, best dressed — whoever arrives at 8am Saturday gets the pick of all 12,000.

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If you live in Newstead or Teneriffe, this is essentially on your doorstep. Whether you collect art or are simply curious, it is worth an hour on Saturday morning — and at $100 a piece, the risk is remarkably low.

There is a moment, standing inside CJ Hendry’s Flower Shop, when you stop questioning whether the blooms are real. They are not. They are fabric — painstakingly cut, shaped and arranged into something that looks impossibly alive. That is the point. That has always been the point with Hendry: the line between the real and the rendered, blurred until it disappears.

After sold-out runs in New York, Melbourne and Sydney, Brisbane has its turn. The Flower Shop is open now at 1 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley, until 12 July — and for anyone who grew up watching this city produce something genuinely world-class, there is something quietly significant about Hendry returning home.

What the Flower Shop Actually Is

The format is deceptively simple. Stems are $10 each. Every tenth stem is free. You walk in, choose from hundreds of handcrafted fabric flowers — roses, poppies, tulips, peonies, ranunculus — and build your bouquet. Some are exclusively Australian designs, available only at this location.

What you take home is not a vase of flowers that will be dead by Thursday. It is a piece of considered craft — something between art object and home accessory — that will sit in your space for years. The Flower Shop is one of those rare experiences that is genuinely hard to describe until you’re in it.

Get there early. The queues in other cities have been long, and the exclusively Australian designs won’t last.

The Artist: CJ Hendry

Catherine Jenna Hendry was born in South Africa in 1988 and raised in Brisbane. She studied architecture at QUT and finance at UQ, eventually dropping out of both to make art — a decision that, in retrospect, seems obvious. By 2013 she had committed fully to her practice. By 2015 she had moved to New York. By 2020 she had become one of the most recognised contemporary artists in the world.

Her signature technique is a form of hyper-realism executed almost entirely in coloured pencil — a deliberate, almost perverse choice, given how labour-intensive it is at the scale she works. She draws luxury objects: Supreme sneakers, Hermès leather goods, Birkin bags, Aston Martins. The drawings are enormous — often the size of a wall — and so precise that photographs of them are routinely mistaken for photographs of the objects themselves.

What makes Hendry’s work compelling beyond the technical spectacle is the tension it creates. She renders the language of luxury and consumerism with extraordinary fidelity, but presents it in a medium — pencil on paper — that is among the most low-tech and labour-intensive in the artist’s toolkit. There is something almost subversive in it. The result is work that attracts both the art world and the streetwear crowd, and somehow manages not to alienate either.

She found her audience on Instagram before the art world came to her — early proof that the rules of access and exposure in contemporary art were already changing. Her work now sells through major auction houses and is held in private collections globally. She has installed large-scale immersive exhibitions in New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and London. The Flower Shop is a different register — more intimate, more accessible — but the craft and the considered eye are exactly the same.

Worth Your Time

The Flower Shop is open until 12 July at 1 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley. It’s a short walk from Newstead — and one of the more genuinely interesting things happening in the precinct right now. Free to browse. $10 per stem. Exclusively Australian designs available only at this location.

Go before it closes.

Winter in Brisbane rarely means slowing down. July 2026 is shaping up as one of the better months to be in the inner north — a layered calendar of food festivals, art pop-ups and cultural events, most of them free, many of them walkable from Newstead and Teneriffe.

Here’s our edit of what’s worth your time this month.

Incognito Art Show — Newstead, 21–26 July

Australia’s biggest and most inclusive art show lands in Newstead this month — and it’s unlike any gallery experience you’ve had. Every A5 original artwork, donated by 15,000 artists, is sold for exactly $100. The catch: the artist’s identity is anonymous until after you buy. You might walk away with a piece by an unknown emerging talent — or someone whose work hangs in major collections. The sale takes place at Long Island Brisbane on 25 & 26 July, with the full collection browsable from 21 July. One of the more genuinely exciting things happening in the precinct this winter.

CJ Hendry Flower Market — Fortitude Valley

After sold-out runs in Melbourne and Sydney, artist CJ Hendry brings her plush flower market to Fortitude Valley. Browse, build a bouquet, and take home something that lasts. Stems from $10, free to browse. Runs until 12 July — get there early.

James St Food & Wine Trail — Sunday 26 July

Brisbane’s most elevated food festival closes James Street for a single day of open-air dining. Twenty-five resident venues, 35 pop-up stalls, a live chef stage, limited workshops from Mud Australia and wine tastings from Shaw + Smith. Free entry, 10am–4pm. One of the better days on the Brisbane calendar — plan ahead.

Night Feast at Brisbane Powerhouse — From 29 July

Night Feast returns for its fifth year — free entry, immersive art installations, live music and a food lineup worth making plans around. The festival runs Wednesday through Sunday from 29 July to 23 August. Put it in the diary now.

Le Festival 2026 — Roma Street Parklands, 24–26 July

France comes to Brisbane for a long weekend of champagne, live music, French markets and masterclasses. Beef wellington cooking class, spirits and cheese pairings, paint and sip — tickets from $12. Worth a Saturday afternoon.

Brisbane Gin Festival — Bowen Hills, 17–18 July

Three hours to sample your way through Australia’s best distillers, with food trucks, a tasting class and a tote bag included. From $50. A solid Friday or Saturday evening in winter.

Sirromet Fire Pit Experience — Every Weekend Until 30 August

A private fire pit, a picnic hamper, mulled wine or a bottle to share, and a blanket to take home. Saturdays and Sundays at Sirromet Winery in Mount Cotton. $189 for two. A proper winter evening.

Lasso Country Music Festival

Drake Milligan flies in from Texas, joined by Australian acts including The Wet Whistles and Austin Mackay. If you’ve been quietly curious about the country music resurgence — this is the entry point.

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Living in Newstead or Teneriffe means most of this is on your doorstep. If you’re considering a move into the precinct — or thinking about what your current apartment could achieve in today’s market — we’d love to have that conversation. Get in touch.