By Callum Ludwig
The Yarra Ranges Donkey Festival is set to make a triumphant return in January 2024, nine years since its inception in 2015.
The event is the brainchild of Linda Jay, owner of the Donkey Shop in East Warburton, with the last edition raising funds for the Donkey Society of Victoria and the Upper Yarra SES Unit.
Ms Jay said due to the success of the last event, she probably gets asked once a week when the next one would be.
“I organised the last one entirely on my own and it was a lot of work and I just sort of didn’t think I had the capacity to do it again, but I’ve got a helper who has stepped in to take on a lot of the other jobs and so between the two of us, we’re going to try and make it work again,” she said.
“The aim of the festival is to introduce the world to donkeys, to educate people about donkeys, to educate donkey owners about how to care for their donkeys, to demonstrate the versatility of donkeys and to get people to bring their donkeys out of the paddock and engage their brains into doing activities.”
Ms Jay has lived with donkeys all her life, with her parents having bred and trained them while she was growing up and getting her own once she had the land for them.
Ms Jay said there’ll be a large gathering of donkeys competing in events, ranging from showing to jumping and obstacle courses to fancy dress.
“There’ll be donkeys in the yard for people to walk and have a look at, or donkey rides to enjoy. I’ll also have guest speakers, a vet and a farrier and a few other speakers who will talk about the care, wellbeing and training of donkeys,” she said.
“Last time we had a jumping castle and pin the tail on the donkey and a few side shows, there’ll actually probably be a slightly larger element of side shows this time as well, because the person who’s helping me, that’s his specialty.”
Over 2000 people and 40 donkeys attended the 2015 festival. Attendees next year can also look forward to a live performance from zydeco band Harmaniax.
Ms Jay said last time, people enjoyed seeing that donkeys can do stuff because a lot of people assume they sit in a field and do nothing.
“Donkeys have a bit of a bad rap when it comes to how they’re portrayed in film and television and stuff like that, they’re always portrayed as being stupid or stubborn and it’s actually completely the opposite,” she said.
“You need to train a donkey with a different approach to a horse, but once you have their love and trust, you can pretty much get them to do anything. And they love to get out and about and do things.”
Anyone wanting to get involved in the event can contact Ms Jay at info@thedonkeyshop.com.au or (03) 5966 9091.
