EKKA Sideshow Alley and the Travelling Showmen

This blog was written by 2025 Royal Queensland Show (EKKA) Fellow, Bronwyn Bridgewater. 

The Ekka’s Sideshow Alley has grown from a motley handful of rides and tent shows in the late 1800’s to today’s impressive assembly of colourful attractions that range from gigantic multimillion dollar rides, to a myriad of gaming and fast food stalls (which showmen call ‘joints’). Sideshow Alley is famous for delivering unadulterated entertainment for young and old alike. Yet, surprisingly, very little is actually known about the travelling showmen, generally known today as ‘Showies’, who are responsible for creating the carnival atmosphere of the Ekka. Because of the itinerant nature of their work, Showies have sometimes been mistakenly viewed with suspicion and prejudice, creating stereotypical labels such as gypsies, carnies or travellers. 

In actual fact, travelling showmen are part of a Guild of professional businessmen whose industry is to provide entertainment to the cities and country towns of Australia. The Showmen’s Guild of Australasia (1) was founded in 1908 following the lead of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, which was initially founded in 1889 as The United Kingdom Van Dwellers Association with the purpose of fighting the Moveable Dwellings Bill of 1888 (2). Like any Guild, the purpose of the Showmen’s Guild is to promote and protect the interests of its members and provide governance. In Australia, the Show community is made up of families that range up to seven or more generations, originating from diverse cultural backgrounds such as Irish, United Kingdom, Chinese, Aboriginal, Māori, American and European (to mention just a few) who have united to become one, very large, travelling family.

Up until the 1970’s, Sideshow Alley was like a small canvas city made up of tent shows, joints and rides. Some of the more famous tent show names were Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Tent, The Slim Dusty Show (ran by the Foster family), the Chad Morgan Show and the Māori Troubadours. 

There has always been a respectful relationship between the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) and the travelling show community that is based on a common purpose – to ensure sideshow alley offers the very best entertainment possible. The RNA, as a 150 year old not-for-profit organization, that owns and operates the Brisbane Showgrounds, could not be more diametrically opposed in its business style when compared to the itinerant show community that is comprised of multiple and distinctly separate business owners. Yet, each year both the RNA and the Showmen combine as professionals in their industries, to provide showgoers with an unforgettable Ekka experience. The following two clips demonstrate this working relationship with former RNA President, Allan Warby, discussing the Showmen and the second clip features my cousin, Aaron Pink, current President of the Showmen’s Guild of Australasia discussing the Ekka and the industry of travelling showmen.

One of the more famous Ekka historical tent show operators is the Foster family who date back to the early 1900s. The Fosters came from five generations of UK performing showmen who emigrated to Australia in 1910. One of the descendants of the Foster family is Ted Trevor, (affectionately known as Uncle Teddy to the Show community). Ted is one of Australia’s oldest living Showmen, turning 90 in September this year. As a young lad in his twenties, he used to be a ‘spruiker’ for the Slim Dusty Show in the 1950’s. For those of you who have never heard the term ‘spruiker’, it is the person with the microphone who introduces the performers on the lineup board of the tent show. Teddy recalls that during the fifties the Ekka ticket price for the Slim Dusty Show was four shillings per adult, two shillings for a child and pensioners were free!! 

In the following clip Ted describes the difference between the performance tent shows and the ‘In and Out’ tent shows that used to dominate sideshow alley up until the 1970s.

Like any family, there are multiple surnames that are passed down through the generations. Some of my connected show family names and businesses that originate from the founding Pink family are the Howards (Dagwood Dogs), Marshalls (Dagwood Dogs and rides), Blewetts (gaming and doll joints), Renetes (the Māori All Star tent show and gaming joints), and Davises (the monkey tent show). There are many more old and famous founding names on the Showgrounds such as the Durkins, Whittingslows, Roberts, Osbornes, Quays, Bells, Sharmans, Shorts, Bakers, Fosters, Godfreys and Lauries - indeed the list of show family names could easily fill this page. 

One thing is for certain, that each show family has brought its own unique business and contribution to the Ekka - from the heritage steam merry-go-round of the Laurie family to tent shows such as Sharman’s Boxing tent and the Slim Dusty Show and of course, the famous Dagwood Dogs, which I will discuss in my next blog on the Pink family.

Call out for your photographs!

As part of her Royal Queensland Show (EKKA) Fellowship, Bronwyn is calling for stories, photographs, or film footage related to the EKKA. Her research draws on the John Oxley Library and RNA archives to explore how major events—such as drought, the Spanish Influenza, the Great Depression, both World Wars, and more recently COVID-19 and security concerns—have shaped the EKKA and its agricultural, urban, and show communities. If you have memories or materials you’d like to share, please get in touch via qldmemory@slq.qld.gov.au.

Bronwyn Bridgewater

Read more blogs about the EKKA.

More blogs by 2025 EKKA Fellow, Bronwyn Bridgwater:

• Showtime Stories: Uncovering 150 Years of EKKA Magic
• Legends of the EKKA: Volunteers
• Legends of the EKKA: Competitors and Exhibitors
• EKKA Sideshow Alley and the Travelling Showmen - The Pink Family and their Descendants

References

1. The first meeting of the Showmen’s Guild in Australia was convened in Orange, NSW in 1908. The Showmen’s Guild of Australasia (the SGA) was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904-1926 on the 7th February 1927 at Melbourne, as an “Organization of Employers in connection with the Showmen’s Industry.” Showmensguild.com.au 7th May, 2025
2. The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain (Established 1889) https://archives.shef.ac.uk/agents/corporate_entities/8
3. Anon (2010) Another busy day in sideshow alley, Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, 1933. Brisbane: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Record number 99184004702102061
4. My grandparent’s Ekka position, Bill & Thelma Howard’s Floss and Popcorn Joints circa late 1940’s Copyright Bronwyn Bridgewater.
5. Tent Show  The Gladiators circa late 1960s. Unknown.
6. State Library of Queensland, issuing body (2012) Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association digital story and oral histories : Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2012, Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association digital story and oral histories : Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2012. Excerpt  Brisbane, Queensland .
7. Interview Aaron & Charlie Pink with Bronwyn Bridgewater  8th June 2025, Discussing Ekka, RNA and life of Showmen copyright Bronwyn Bridgewater
8. Ted Trevor is a famous identity in the Travelling Show community. His family dates back to English Showmen who settled in Australia in 1911. Ted with his combined English and Australian background is a 6th generation travelling showman.
9. Interview Teddy Trevor with Bronwyn Bridgewater  2nd May 2025, Discussing vintage Ekka Tent Shows copyright Bronwyn Bridgewater