Photo by: Gillian Lo
Gung Haggis Fat Choy, the annual Robbie Burns Day and Chinese New Year celebration, held by Toddish McWong, was intercultural goodness. Pipers were piping, dancers were dancing, volunteers were hawking raffle tickets, both Chinese & Scottish men galore were showing off their legs in kilts, and haggis wonton was eaten. Floata Restaurant was packed with over 400 very happy guests.
Gung Haggis Pipe & Drum Band (Photo by: Gillian Lo)
Larissa Lai, who has been featured in Ricepaper (13.4 Alter Ego issue), recited several of her poems from Automaton Biographies to much applause, while a mysterious Bearded Lady went around the tables and shushed, so that Larissa could be heard. In addition, the evening featured: a theatrical performance by playwright and actor Marcus Youssef accompanied by writer and comedian Charles Demers; an instrumental trio, featuring Lan Tung (erhu), Ron Samworth (electric guitar) and Neelamjit Dhillon (tabla drums); highland dancing by two cute kids (Aidan and Alex Huang) and a multicultural pipe band which weaved in and out of the crowd near the middle and the end of the night. Toddish McWong and Joe McDonald performed a Gung Haggis rap, which was unable to be deciphered even with the assistance of the lyrics written up in the program.
Ricepapers on display (Photo by: Gillian Lo)
Hawking issues and books at the Ricepaper booth (Photo by: Gillian Lo)
Ricepaper had a display table at the dinner, where we displayed our wares and wares of beautiful back issues. I trained volunteers on what to say in answer to the infamous FAQ: “Is Ricepaper actually made out of ricepaper?” The answer that the volunteer should politely provide: “No.”
Haggis siu mai (Photo by: Gillian Lo)
Ricepaper volunteer table (Photo by: Gillian Lo)
If you’d like to volunteer with Ricepaper on a one-time or regular basis, go to our volunteers page for more details.
One Comment
It was awesome volunteering at this event… Ben is right; it’s a great opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time. It’s definitely not everyday you get to attend events like this!