The Gumboot Festival



Bree in the gumboot throwing competition



The town of Taihape is about 100 km north of Palmerston and is best known for gumboots. A small farming based community Taihape has put itself on the map by marketing the town as the gumboot capital of the world! In keeping with this they host Gumboots Days every year and we decided that we needed to attend this event as it definitely fits under the category of “cultural experience”.

The festival was held on a sunny and hot Saturday down at the town park. There were bouncy castles for the kids, craft booths, food carts, sheep shearing demonstrations, entertainment and of course the gumboot throwing competition. The competition ran all day allowing you to sign-up for a small fee (which goes to Rotary) and then having your three throws. There were “officials” who measured the distances and recorded these and all of this information was collected. At the end of the day the farthest throws for each category were announced. It was all in the spirit of fun but there was over $2,000 up for grabs if you could beat the world record gumboot throw distance (apparently there are records for everything!).

Bree went in the competition and as a child she was allowed to throw a child’s size boot. She didn’t win anything but she did get an official certificate for participating. We toured the stands and enjoyed the entertainment. We both really liked the gumboot art displays and there were even gumboot cakes and cupcakes. All in all a fun day and something a little different in the cultural department.