Find something good to read and show some meaningful support for the donkeys while you’re at it!
Robertson, South Africa (22 April 2026) – If your winter isn’t truly complete without a cosy stack of books and a warm conscience, the Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary Book Fair is calling you!
It returns from 7 to 9 May at Oos-Kerk in Robertson, and this year lands right on World Donkey Day on 8 May, recognising the important cause this much-anticipated book fair is all about.
Thousands of books will be on offer across fiction, travel, children’s, cookbooks, poetry, and much more, with a mix of new and second-hand titles and fresh stock unpacked every day of the fair. Most books go for R30; beautiful coffee table books are individually priced, and rare finds will be up for silent auction for the collectors in the room.
If a bookish bonanza isn’t reason enough to make the stop in Robertson, the support it will generate for donkeys definitely is!
Every sale goes directly to Eseltjiesrus, the donkey sanctuary just outside McGregor that has been giving elderly, neglected, and abused donkeys a proper home since it was formally registered almost two decades ago. It started when Dr Johan and Annemarie van Zijl took in two badly neglected donkeys at the request of the SPCA, Vaal and Japie, and quickly realised there were many more that needed the same care.
Animals that often come from really tough circumstances get the life they deserve at the sanctuary. Eseltjiesrus also fields calls and emails from across the country from people wanting to do right by their donkeys but not quite knowing how. That educational side of their work makes a big difference, too.
Shopping at the book fair is rather a quite rewarding way to support that work! Stock up on your winter reads, dig through the shelves, and even consider ‘adopting’ a donkey while you’re there. You can also donate books or buy gift vouchers!
The Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary Book Fair. 7–9 May. Oos-Kerk, Robertson.
by 