It’s just after 8am on Saturday. I drive around the bend in the road and see 30 people already lined up outside the Ngaio Town Hall, waiting for the doors to open at 9am to the 13th annual Blue Dragon Book Fair.

I grin. It’s going to be a good one. And it is! In 2024, we raised a record $28,515 – smashing the previous year’s record by more than $4000. All of the money is sent to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam.

I’m one of five trustees of Blue Dragon Children’s Trust NZ. Along with a great bunch of helpers, we organise the annual Blue Dragon Book Fair.

And now, Blue Dragon NZ is organising the 14th book fair, to be held on 17 and 18 May in the Ngaio Town Hall. Along with the fundraising, it’s a wonderful community event. It’s a lot of work but the sense of community gives us a buzz.

Here are five things I love about this book fair.

A great cause

Blue Dragon works to improve the lives of Vietnamese children by breaking the poverty cycle through education and training, and stopping trafficking. I’ve visited Blue Dragon in Hanoi and I know they use their funds wisely to benefit the children. A few recent statistics: at the end of March,  Blue Dragon has rescued 1725 people from trafficking (often young women sold into brothels and forced marriages in China); supported 6926 young people to return to school and training; provided shelter to 1926 children; and played 3673 games of soccer.

Wonderful mix

Someone once described it as a book fair for “discerning buyers”. The joy of this book fair is the wonderful mix of people who come every year and the books they buy. I would say “eclectic” – sometimes “eccentric” – rather than “discerning”.

Children on the stage

“It’s a highlight of their year,” a Northland mother tells me as her two children fossick through the children’s books on the stage. For $30, they can get 30 books. The stage is packed with families and gorgeous children, absorbed in reading all sorts of picture and chapter books. 

Random stuff

Every year I wear a tee-shirt saying, “So many books. So little time”. A woman says, “I like your tee-shirt. Politics and Prose is my favourite book store. I’m from DC.” I tell her I first visited the Washington DC store 40 years ago when I was visiting my sister. 

Big bags, big words

“Have you got any books on numismatics?” he asks, already weighed down by several big bags of books. I look around the tables groaning with thousands of books. “What does it mean?” I ask.

“Coin collecting,” he says.

“I’ll keep an eye out,” I say. After hours of browsing, coin collector man buys his books. I don’t know if found any books on numismatics but I’ve learned a new word.