Volunteer at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2026 in Sharjah

Volunteering at the Sharjah International Book Fair in Sharjah puts you on the team behind one of the UAE’s biggest cultural events. The Sharjah Book Authority, working with the Sharjah Volunteer Centre, is recruiting 300 volunteers for the fair’s 45th edition, which runs for 12 days, 4–15 November 2026, at Expo Centre Sharjah. Registration through the Sharjah Volunteer Centre platform closed on 25 October 2026.

How to Volunteer at the Sharjah International Book Fair

The volunteer call was announced by Sharjah24, the emirate’s official news service. Applications were handled entirely through the Sharjah Volunteer Centre platform: applicants created or signed in to an account there, submitted their registration before the 25 October deadline, and those selected are assigned their tasks by the fair’s organising committee.

Applicants had to be aged 18 or over. With places capped at 300 across the whole fair, the volunteer team is small compared with the number of visitors, so each volunteer covers a real share of the work.

One practical benefit sets this programme apart from informal helping: volunteer hours are officially recorded on the Sharjah Volunteer Centre platform. For students who need documented community service, or for anyone building a record of volunteering in the UAE, that recorded time is the main reason to sign up through the official channel.

What Volunteers Do During the Fair

The exact role depends on where the organising committee needs people, but the announcement sets out three main areas of work:

• Supporting the event teams who run the fair day to day, wherever extra hands are needed.
• Helping organise activities, following the tasks set by the organising committee.
• Looking after visitors, including visitor services across the halls.

The Sharjah Book Authority presents the programme as hands-on experience in event operations and visitor experience management, along with practical skills that volunteers can take into study or work.

Morning and Evening Shifts

There are two shifts each day. The morning shift runs between 9am and 3pm, and the evening shift between 3pm and 10pm. The split means students can volunteer after lectures and working professionals can take an evening slot, while the morning shift suits people with commitments later in the day. Because the evening shift ends at 10pm, at the same time the fair closes, volunteers on that shift should know how they are getting home before they accept it.

The 45th Sharjah International Book Fair

Volunteers will be working at a large edition of the fair. The 2026 fair runs under the tagline “Made of Stories” and welcomes the Sultanate of Oman as Guest of Honour, with its own pavilion of cultural sessions, children’s workshops and performances. The organisers report 2,673 publishers and exhibitors representing 124 countries and around 1,500 cultural, creative and artistic events across the 12 days, including a large programme of hands-on workshops for children and teenagers. The Sharjah International Library Conference also takes place during the fair, on 7–9 November.

That scale is what makes the volunteer roles useful experience: activities run in the halls and lobbies every day, school groups visit on reserved slots, and families come for workshops with set dates and age groups. For full details of the programme, see our page on the Sharjah International Book Fair.

Expo Centre Sharjah

The fair takes place at Expo Centre Sharjah, in the Al Khan area on Al Taawun Street, near Arab Mall. Volunteers are based there for their shifts. For 2026, the Sharjah Book Authority has announced free shuttle buses and expanded parking for fair visitors, which may also help volunteers travelling from other parts of Sharjah or from neighbouring emirates.

Who This Suits

The programme suits book lovers who would like to see the fair from behind the scenes, university students who need recorded volunteer hours or event experience, and anyone considering a career in events, publishing, hospitality or the arts. If the 2026 places are already filled, the Sharjah Volunteer Centre platform is where future calls for the fair are published.

For more cultural events in the emirate, see our guide to things to do in Sharjah and our art and culture page, or browse everything on this month in things to do in November.