Eagle Farm: Racecourse, Sunday Markets and Heritage Park

Eagle Farm is a mostly industrial suburb on Brisbane’s north-east edge, and the reasons people visit it are the Eagle Farm Racecourse, the Sunday farmers market held there and a free heritage park built around a convict women’s prison and wartime airfield. It is about 15 minutes by car from the Brisbane CBD.

The racecourse is on Lancaster Road, in the neighbouring suburb of Ascot, but everyone knows it as Eagle Farm. The heritage park is in Eagle Farm itself.

Eagle Farm Racecourse

Eagle Farm Racecourse is one of two courses run by the Brisbane Racing Club, the other being Doomben. The club holds more than 80 race meetings a year across the two, and its calendar includes the Stradbroke Season and a Summer Racing Carnival.

Ticket prices change from one raceday to the next, so check the raceday calendar on the Brisbane Racing Club website when you book. The course has a cafe, bar, restaurant, public toilets and a gift shop, and the venue is listed as family friendly with disabled access.

Jan Powers Farmers Markets at Eagle Farm

The Jan Powers Farmers Markets run at the racecourse on Sunday mornings. Entry is free and dogs are welcome. The market takes breaks over summer, so check the Jan Powers market page for the next date and opening hours. Expect farm produce, coffee, flowers, hot and cold food, bakery goods, plants and artisan products.

If you are looking for the Eagle Farm Markets, the Sunday Jan Powers market at the racecourse is the one running now.

Where to park and enter

• Car park: free parking in the Infield Car Park through Gate 7, off Nudgee Road behind the Racecourse Village Shopping Centre. A pedestrian tunnel leads into the market.
• Lancaster Road: pedestrian entry is Gate 4, at the top of Racecourse Road at Lancaster Road. Accessible parking is available through this gate.

If you like this kind of market, the Jan Powers market at the Powerhouse in New Farm and our guide to markets in Brisbane list the rest.

TradeCoast Central Heritage Park

The heritage park is on the former Eagle Farm Airport site at 87 Schneider Road. It ties together three heritage-listed sites: the Eagle Farm Women’s Prison and Factory Site (convict era), the Allison Engine Testing Stands built by the US 81st Air Depot Group in November 1942, and Second World War Hangar No. 7, an igloo-shaped building where intelligence work on captured Japanese aircraft helped the Allies understand the Zero fighter.

There is an interpretive centre, walking trails with indoor and outdoor displays and free self-guided audio walking tours. Entry is free. The centre is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday. For group tours ring 07 3124 7400.

Captain Patrick Logan chose the Eagle Farm site in 1829 to farm maize, pigs and cattle, and female convicts worked there in the 1830s until the settlement closed in 1839.

Planning your visit

• How long: 1 to 2 hours for the Sunday market, an afternoon for a race day, about an hour at the heritage park.
• Best time: an early Sunday morning for the market; a weekday for the heritage centre, which is open Monday to Friday.
• Cost: the market and the heritage park are free. Race days need a ticket.
• What to bring: a hat, sunscreen and shopping bags for the market.
• Accessibility: the racecourse lists disabled access, accessible parking at Gate 4 and the Infield Car Park, and a buggy from the car park for elderly or disabled visitors on raceday. Accessibility at the heritage park is not published, so contact the park on 07 3124 7401.

Getting there and parking

By car, the racecourse is about 8 km by road from the Brisbane CBD, about 15 minutes without traffic. The heritage park is about 9 km, also about 15 minutes. Racecourse parking for both members and the public is in the Infield Car Park off Nudgee Road, and Brisbane Racing Club does not list parking fees on its page.

By train, Ascot station is beside the racecourse. The railway bridge is a horse-only zone, so walk from the station to Gate 4 at Racecourse Road and Lancaster Road. By bus, Brisbane Racing Club lists routes 300 and 301 from Adelaide Street in the city to the racecourse. Check Translink for the timetable. Rideshare drivers meet you on Lancaster Road after you leave through Gate 4. Racecourse Road may close on feature race days.

For the heritage park, use Backhouse Place at the southern end or Amy Johnson Place at the northern end. The park’s own site is tradecoastcentralheritagepark.com.au. Details can change, so check before you go.

Nearby

• Eat Street Northshore – the riverside container food market at Hamilton, a short drive away.
• Bowen Hills – home of the Brisbane Showgrounds and the Ekka.
• Brisbane Showgrounds – the other big event ground in the inner north.
• Fortitude Valley – dining and live music for after the races.
• Newstead House – Brisbane’s oldest surviving home, for more local history.
• Nundah Farmers Markets – another Sunday market on the northside.

Browse more markets and history and landmarks.

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• Sleeman Sports Complex (Chandler)
• Gold Coast Convention Centre (Broadbeach)
• Kooralbyn Valley (Scenic Rim)

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