From the farm gate to the Ekka strawberry sundae – a search for the Big Strawberry

For more than 70 years, Queenslanders have flocked to the Ekka to enjoy one of its best known icons – the strawberry sundae. The design is simple: a wafer cone filled with strawberry ice cream, a layer of whipped cream, and topped with a fresh strawberry. This show-staple tells a rich history of farming across the southeast of Queensland. 

The strawberry sundae debuted at the Ekka in 1950, when local producer Peters mixed fresh strawberries into their ice cream. The new creation was an instant hit, soon becoming an unmissable part of the annual agricultural show. 

Our research explores how farming families across regional Queensland showcase the best of the country in the annual Ekka show. We spoke to several people who had volunteered their time at the Ekka during school in the 1980s and 90s, where they spent days mixing, scooping, or dicing up strawberries for the sundaes. For decades now, the strawberry sundaes have been assembled by volunteers. In the 1980s The Common Good became a charitable partner and enrolled the help of volunteers to sell strawberry sundaes, with profits going to the Prince Charles Hospital. The sales of the iconic strawberry sundae were used to fund medical research, with large portions of fruit donated by farmers across southeast Queensland in key strawberry growing regions like the Sunshine Coast and Southern Downs. 

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the Ekka was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, the strawberry sundae persevered, with pop-up food trucks selling outside vaccination and testing centres. The Ekka icon was even depicted as a square in the ‘Queensland Quarantine Quilt’, a community project led by the Queensland Spinners Weavers and Fibre Artists and ABC Radio to unite people across the state. 

Queensland’s strawberry farms have a long history. Land across southeast were cleared and farms were established in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and alongside the better-known pineapple farms were fields of flourishing strawberries, which suited winter production due to the temperate climate. 

We visited several farms at the Sunshine Coast who have been supplying the Ekka with fresh strawberries in recent years. For the farmers, the educational value of the Ekka cannot be understated. One farmer described to us the many conversations overheard during the show, while manning the educational displays. One parent was patiently explaining to their children where strawberries come from, “No, they don’t come out of the plastic box”, with another farmer saying that he loved seeing “the utter awe” when people realise “what actually goes into producing a punnet of strawberries”.  

Alongside demonstration of agricultural processes, educational talks, hands-on activities, and taste-testing, we discovered that there was once a ‘Big Strawberry’ that held prime position in the Ekka. 

“It was built out of fibreglass, specifically for the Ekka … it had pride of place up on the stand in the Ag hall”, the president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association told us. Other farmers also remember the Big Strawberry which was used annually at the Ekka in the 1990s and early 2000s. For the rest of the year, it was “placed on a trailer that would sit on the highway during strawberry season … from May onwards, it just let people know that [the farms] were there, they could come and pick their own strawberries”. 

One Sunshine Coast farmer told us that the Big Strawberry was his way into the industry. He explained: 

“I remember driving along the highway and looking at it, and at the very last minute, deciding to turn off and go and have a look at the strawberry farm. And we ended up buying strawberries and cream, and strawberry jam. … We saw the sign, ‘Fresh Strawberries’, and [at the] last minute, two seconds to make the decision, we did it – we went off the highway and pulled into the shop … Lo and behold, a couple of years later, we ended up working on that farm, and we developed [our] business from there.” 

The location of the big strawberry is currently unknown. We followed rumours and referrals from farmers, industry representatives, even speaking with the RNA as to their recollections of the display during the 1990s. It is rumoured to be in storage on land that was previously used for strawberry farming and now unknown ownership, somewhere north of Caboolture. 

This year is the 150th anniversary of the Ekka, where over a tonne of fresh strawberries are picked from farms at the Sunshine Coast and delivered to the show each day. The newly developed ‘Strawberry Sundae Lane’ is an educational display with hands-on experiences that showcase the ins and outs of the local ingredients that go into producing this iconic treat: from grains to dairy, to the fresh fruit itself. While the Big Strawberry might still be absent, the legacy of Queensland’s strawberry farming is still a big part of the Ekka today. 

Dr Kaya Barry and Emily House - 2026 Royal Queensland Show (EKKA) Fellows 

The Royal Queensland Show (EKKA) Fellowship is generously supported by The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA)..

Read more blogs about the Ekka.