The Tully Golden Gumboot Festival takes place next Saturday the 18th of May from 10.30am at Tully showgrounds. No idea what this is all about? Well, let the festival organisers explain...
Tully's reputation for being "A Pretty Wet Place" is celebrated each year at the Golden Gumboot Festival. The 'Gumboot Games' are a major feature of this family oriented festival, along with a float parade, Golden Girl Quest and a big afternoon of entertainment, music, displays, children's activities and food and market stalls. The festival is launched with a Quest Night, where Quest entrants are introduced and judging occurs. The Gumboot Festival is Tully's major annual festival and each year a community organisation or a community project is selected to benefit from the festival proceeds. Since the festival commenced in 2004 over $30,000 has been donated to local community organisations.
But why a gumboot?
Originally a rubber boot was awarded to the wettest town in Australia. Tully, Babinda and Innisfail vie for this honour every year. The idea of a Big Gumboot to enhance Tully's image and welcome visitors was embraced by Tully community bodies in 1997. The Tully Rotary and Lions Clubs obtained funding, donations and in-kind contributions from various sources. The total cost of the project was $90,000.
The gumboot was designed and fabricated by Brian Newell and installed by Tully Rotary. The official opening was held on 10 May 2003. The boot is made of fibreglass and stands 7.9 metres high. This height represents Tully's record annual rainfall of 7,900mm (311 inches) in 1950.
There is a spiral staircase inside the boot that leads to a viewing platform. From the top of the boot you can get a great photograph of the Tully Sugar Mill and also of the Tully township with Mount Tyson in the background.
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