Up to 1,500 punters are expected to pack Gympie's Turf Club today for the town's fourth annual Melbourne Cup camel races.
Club president Spencer Slatter said Gympie's unusual ode to the
Melbourne Cup was similar to any other horse race, apart from one major difference - no horses.
"We've chosen to race camels because we only have eight horse race meetings a year, and on Melbourne Cup day we would struggle to get decent fields and jockeys," Mr Slatter said.
"We reckon we can always get a crowd on Melbourne Cup day, so why not race camels?"
Mr Slatter said the day involved six races with six camels each, with local politicians and media personalities participating in a final "celebrity" race.
He said while the Melbourne Cup stopped the nation, Gympie's formerly-feral camels, caught in the wild in central Australia, brought Gympie to a standstill.
"It's our biggest day of the year, but it's not a day for the serious race-goer," he said.
Money raised from the spectacle will go to a local cancer charity.