COQUITLAM, BC –
There will be mandus, wontons, baos, patties and ravioli, a sample of what is expected at the opening BC Dumpling Festival.
At first glance, it’s a food festival, but its purpose is to fight racism by uniting cultures through meatballs.
“We are really promoting so many different cultures. And with the meatballs, it’s so multicultural, right? Every country really has a dumpling… I think that’s how we all connect with each other,” explained organizer Gina Chong.
Chong is not a festival organizer by trade; she is a small business owner and real estate agent.
She got involved in anti-racism work after facing an ugly encounter during the pandemic.
In April 2021, she and a friend were walking through Town Center Park when a stranger asked them to help her take a photo.
Chong said they refused because they didn’t have hand sanitizer and they were concerned about COVID-19, prompting the woman to go on a racist tirade.
“She said, ‘COVID came from you. She came from your country. Go back to China. And hearing that was quite shocking to us,” Chong said.
Since that incident, he founded the Asian Society of Arts and Culture, which is organizing the dumpling festival.
On On Wonton House of Burnaby is one of the vendors for the event.
Mona Chan said elderly relatives experienced racial violence, with one suffering a broken cheekbone and both feeling pain months later.
It was a traumatic event that has especially impacted her teenage daughter.
She said the dumpling festival has helped give them a voice and a sense of empowerment.
“We are answering the call because my daughter wants it to be known that we want to stand up for anti-racism and racial harmony,” Chan said.
His daughter made a cheeky dip called a “kicker bun” to fight racism.
She said that at one of the festival’s smaller events, she saw the positive impact of the festival on the family.
“Last night was the first time I saw this face behind me,” she said, pointing to her daughter, “shine and smile and be proud of our ancestry… The BC Dumpling Festival is like Christmas in July for us.”
Eliminate Hate, a nonprofit that fights for racial equity for Asian Canadians, said events like the BC Dumpling Festival can play a role in fighting prejudice.
“We really feel that representation, quality and diverse representation is a great way to reduce systemic racism,” said Executive Director Audrey Wong. “Repeated and ongoing exposure to Asian Canadians and Asian Canadian cultural norms in a non-threatening situation can normalize and familiarize people with Asian Canadians.”
Chong said he wants to make the BC Dumpling Festival an annual event, with smaller dumpling-making workshops throughout the year.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the nonprofit pay for security, tents, fencing, and other logistics.