Originally the Golden Gumboot was a competition between Tully, Innisfail and Babinda as to which town is the wettest in Australia. The winner for the competition (since 1970) was awarded with a rubber boot and with an annual rainfall of up to seven metres - Tully was the winner. The Golden Gumboot Festival is dedicated to the fact that Tully is a 'pretty wet place'.

In this small sleepy town, locals get together once a year for this festival, of which the highlight is the gumboot throwing competition. The person who can throw a size eight gumboot the greatest distance wins. The festival begins in the afternoon with a 7.9 metre high Golden Gumboot being paraded through Tully's main street.

This family orientated fun festival has as many things to do involving gumboots as possible including; tenpin bowling using gumboots, banana packing in gumboots, decorated gumboots...and the list goes on...

Other activities include, food market stalls, displays, children's activities, judging of the Golden Girl, Golden Princess, and Golden Oldie quest and a big evening of live entertainment.