What to expect at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2010 Dinner

picture by Patrick Tam

The Arrival

Arrive Early: 

The doors will open at 5:00 pm, All tables are reserved, and all seating is placed in the order that they were ordered.

If you bought your tickets through Firehall Arts Centre, come to the reception marked Will Call under the corresponding alphabet letters.

We have placed you at tables in order of your purchase.  Somebody who bought their ticket in December will be at a table closer to the stage then somebody who bought it on the day before the event.  We think this is fair.  If you want to sit close for next year - buy your ticket early.

The Bar is open at 5:00 and Dinner Start time is 6:00

We expect a rush before the posted 6:00pm dinner time. We have asked that the 1st appetizer platter be placed on the table soon after 6pm.  Once this is done, we will start the Piping in of our performers and head table.  We sing O Canada from the stage, and give welcome to our guests.  Warning: We usually ask you to sing for your supper.

Buy Your Raffle Tickets:

Please buy raffle tickets... this is how we generate our fundraising.  We purposely keep our admission costs low to $60 for so that they are affordable and the dinner can be attended by more people.  Children's tickets are subsidized so that we can include them in the audience and be an inclusive family for the evening. We have some great door and raffle prizes lined up.  Lots of books (being the writers we are), gift certificates and theatre tickets + other surprises.

FREE Subscription for Ricepaper Magazine:

Everybody is eligible for a subscription to RicePaper Magazine, (except children). This is our thank you gift to you for attending our dinner. And to add value ($20) to your ticket. Pretty good deal, eh? Rice Paper Magazine is Canada's best journal about Asian Canadian arts and culture, published by Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop,

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team continues to promote multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling events. Some paddlers wear kilts, and we have been filmed for German, French, and Canadian television documentaries + other

Since 2001, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop, has been a partner in this remarkable dinner event. ACWW works actively to give a voice to ermerging writers.  ACWW is the publisher of RicePaper Magazine.

Histoic Joy Kogawa House committee joined our family of recipients in 2006, during the campaign to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.  The Land Conservancy of BC stepped in to fundraise in 2005 and purchase Kogawa House in 2006 and turn it into a National literary landmark and treasure for all Canadians. In 2009, we celebrated our inaugural Writer-in-Residence program.

The FOOD

This year haggis dim sum appetizers will again be served. Haggis is mixed into the Pork  Siu-mei dumplings  Last year we introduced haggis pork dumplings (su-mei). This year we are adding vegetarian pan-fried turnip cake to represent "Neeps and Tatties."  The secon

Soon after 6:00 pm the dinner formalities begin. People are seated, and the Piping in of the musicians and hosts begins.  We will lead a singalong of Scotland the Brave and give a good welcome to our guests, and have the calling of the clans - all the reserved tables and large parties of 10.  This is a tradition at many Scottish ceilidhs (kay-lees), or gatherings.

From then on... a new dish will appear every 15 minutes - quickly followed by one of our co-hosts introducing a poet or musical performer.  Serving 40 tables within 5 minutes, might not work completely, so please be patient.  We will encourage our guests and especially the waiters to be quiet while the performers are on stage. Then for the 5 minute intermissions, everybody can talk and make noise before they have to be quiet for the performers again.

Check this video from last year's Dinner

The Performances

Expect the unexpected:  This year's dinner event is full of surprises. Even I don't know what is going to happen.  The idea is to recreate the spontaneity of the very first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 - but with 400 guests.  For that dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share.  I don't want to give anything away right now as I prefer the evening to unfold with a sense of surprise and wonderment.  But let it be known that we have an incredible array of talent for the evening. 

Todd Wong and Tricia Collins will be the hosts for the evening.

Todd Wong is the creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy. A 5th Generation Chinese Canadian who played Robbie Burns in the Battle of the Bards for 2008 Celtic Fest.

Tricia Collins is a actor, writer and playwright.  Recently, her one woman play Gravity performed to rave reviews in Vancouver, Montreal and Guyana - home of her ancestors.  Tricia happily brings her Irish-Chinese-Guyanese-Canadian heritage to Gung Haggis Fat Choy! 

Joe McDonald We always delight in having Joe and his bagpipes. Joe has been with us since 2001 and even performed in the 2004 Gung Haggis Fat Choy CBC tv special.  Joe is a multi-instrumentalist and can perform Chinese tunes on his bamboo flute or his bagpipes.

Birds of Paradox is the new group by erhu virtuoso Lan Tung, Ron Samworth on guitar and Nealamjit Dhillon on tabla drums and saxophone.  Lan is also the leader of the group Orchid Ensemble.

Our non-traditional reading of the "Address to the Haggis" is always a crowd pleaser.  But this year, audience members might also be reading a different Burns poem to tie their tongues around the gaelic tinged words.  Will it be "A Man's A Man for All That," "To a Mouse," My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose," or maybe even "Tam O-Shanter?"

The evening will wrap up somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 pm, with the singing of Auld Lang Syne - with a verse in Mandarin Chinese. Then we will socialize further until 10pm.  People will leave with smiles on their faces and say to each other, "Very Canadian,"  "Only in Vancouver could something like this happen," or "I'm telling my friends."