Dec 6th, 2004
- For immediate Release -
CBC Television’s The National features:
Todd Wong & Gung Haggis Fat Choy
On Tuesday Dec 7th, CBC TV's The National looks at life in one of Canada's most integrated cities, Vancouver BC. Urban Road Stories visits Todd Wong and his intercultural creation: Gung Haggis Fat Choy, also known as Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner. The show airs live on CBC NewsWorld at 6pm and locally on The National at 10pm.
The story follows a rehearsal with the musical fusion band Brave Waves, featuring bagpiper Joe McDonald and drummer Harish Kumar with Wong playing accordion. Haggis wun tun and spring rolls are also served up. News anchor Peter Mansbridge will then talk in person with Wong.
Wong’s 10 course Chinese dinner event + haggis, has been simultaneously described as "wacky", "whimsical", "Monty Pythonesque", and "very Canadian." It inspired the 2004 CBC Television special Gung Haggis Fat Choy, nominated for two Leo awards and produced by Out to See Production’s Moyra Rodgers.
The dinner blends together Scottish-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian cultural traditions, as well as creating some new ones. This "little" fundraiser dinner for Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team once started out as a dinner for 16, and now 700 are expected for dinner on January 30th, 2005. Floata is the 4th restaurant to host this dinner event, which almost doubles in size each year, quickly outgrowing 3 previously used restaurants.
Special co-host for 2005, will be Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada. It was in September 2004, that Toddish McWong first created haggis wun tun as a special gift for Rogers, when she and her flagship morning show relocated to Vancouver from Toronto. Joining them as co-host will be Tom Chin of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre.
Performers for the event include: bagpiper Joe McDonald and his band Brave Waves, and contemporary hip-hop songstress LaLa – both featured in the Gung Haggis Fat Choy television special. Also joining them areOpera Soprano Heather Pawsey; Governor General's Award winning poet Fred Wah; Scottish Highland dancing brothers Vincent and Cameron Collins + many more special guests such as Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell.
Wong and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team will also be featured on the French television show Thalassa, shown on TV5 on December 10,11 & 12.
Tickets for Gung Haggis Fat Choy are now on sale at Firehall Arts Centre Box Office: 604-689-0926.
Earlybird price is $50 regular, $45 for students, $35 for children 12 and under. After Jan 2, the regular price is $60 and $55 for students, $45 for children 12 and under.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy events will be:
- Dec 31 - First Night Vancouver @ QE Plaza & CBC Plaza
- Jan 17 - Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night @ Vancouver Public Library
- Jan 28 - SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Highland Games @ Simon Fraser University
- Jan 30 – Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong’s Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner
For More information check out www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com
or call Todd Wong at 604-987-7124 or e-mail at gunghaggis@yahoo.ca