Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2021 - A Scottish-Chinese Celebration

It was 1998 and as the Chinese Lunar New Year fell only two days away from Robbie Burns Day, which is always January 25, Todd decided to celebrate the Scottish Bard’s birthday along with the Lunar New Year. “Gung Haggis Fat Choy!” said Wong, “I can celebrate two cultures at the same time.” And thus was born the Vancouver cultural premiere that culinary and media personalities have come to celebrate this cultural mashup that features deep-fried haggis wontons, haggis dim sum, and haggis lettuce wrap with a glass of scotch each year. Gung Haggis Fat Choy started out as a small fundraiser of 16 people in 1998 in a crowded living room. Twenty years later it serves dinner at the biggest Chinese Restaurant in North America, and has spun off a CBC television performance special, and the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Canadian Games. in almost all the food that we normally serve at a GHFC Banquet Dinner. 

Simon Kempston – Edinburgh Scotland
singer-songwriter in folk tradition and trained in classical guitar, I have hosted house concerts when he comes to Vancouver. We first met at the Railray Club in Vancouver when I was wearing a kilt.
https://simonkempston.co.uk/

Dr. Leith Davis Burnaby BC
English Professor and Director of Center of Scottish Studies at SFU – She writes and lectures about the global Burns diaspora, plays fiddle and piano. She created the SFU Burns poetry reading marathon event.
http://www.sfu.ca/scottishstudies/our-director–faculty–scholars—-distinguished-affiliates.html


Paul Yee – Toronto ON
author/historian – writer of youth, adult & juvenile fiction, poetry and books about Chinatowns – I first met Paul when he chaired the 1986 Saltwater City exhibit about 100 years of Chinese history in Vancouver.
http://www.paulyee.ca


Ken McGoogan – Toronto ON
Author of 15 books about the Scottish & Celtic diaspora in Canada + Franklin’s journey in Northwest Passage. Introduced to me via email by CBC Radio’s Shelagh Rogers. I’ve promised Ken to visit the Actic someday soon. https://kenmcgoogan.blogspot.com/p/home_11.html


Fiona Tinwei Lam – Vancouver BC
Born in Scotland – Poet and Creative writing teacher and author of three poetry books and a children’s book, editor/co-editor of three anthologies. Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have been published in over forty anthologies. Her sister Shona once paddled on our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.
Fiona Tinwei Lam