By HARRY CLARKE
THINK Farmer Wants A Wife but without the television production crew nor the scripted contestant stoushes, and without your hapless love life being splashed across the tabloid news websites.
The Brisbane Ekka, where country folk and city slickers connect and where many lasting romantic relationships have been forged, will next Monday host the inaugural Singles Mingle event at the famous Stockmen’s Bar & Grill.
For decades the venue has been where the party gravitates after dark throughout the Ekka, and the perfect setting for concrete cowgirls and cowboys, and bachelors and spinsters of the bush, to meet their potential suitors.
The Stockmen’s Bar has been the scene of countless first encounters, first dates, engagements, marriages and everything in between, so this year the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) has decided to lean into its longstanding reputation.
The Ekka Singles Mingle social affair will begin at 8pm on Monday August 14 at the Stockmen’s Bar & Grill.
Harry Tommerup, 24, an engineer turned vegetable farmer based on his family’s Scenic Rim dairy farm, is looking for love but like many in rural and regional Queensland, finds it hard to meet that special someone.
“It would be great to meet someone but being based on a farm does make it tough. You can chat online and on the phone but to actually meet up or have someone in a nearby location has its challenges, especially in the first stages of dating,” Harry said.
“I’m looking forward to coming to Ekka and hope that the Singles Mingle will give myself and other farmers a chance to meet some country and city girls in person.”
“The Ekka is about bringing the country to the city, so I’ll take this opportunity to enjoy the show and maybe even meet that special someone!”
Singles Mingle will be hosted by magician (and The Bachelorette and Australia’s Got Talent contestant) Apollo (pictured below), who will weave his magic for the crowd of (hopefully) lucky in love Ekka goers.
There will be speed dating, live country music from Brittany Elise and a swag of other initiatives aimed to continue the Ekka’s tradition as a match-making event.
Registration is available here, or for more information visit the official Ekka website.
