For the 20th anniversary of the Dragon Ball—presented by the Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Saturday—organizers attempted to infuse the gala with a number of new elements and chose the tagline "Expect the Unexpected" to advertise this year's event. But the nature of the venue and the nature of the event brought limitations, said Henry Chiu, the foundation's director of development and communications.
"We follow a formula," Chiu said of the program for the evening. "There are certain elements you can't get away from. It is a celebration of the Chinese New Year...we can't get away from the Chinese elements." In an effort to switch things up this year, organizers—who worked with a team of 300 volunteers—opted to have several traditional Chinese gods of fortune mingling with the crowd of 1,200 guests. "People love to touch them...they hope their luck will rub off," Chiu said, noting in past years there was only one costumed god of fortune who mingled with V.I.P. guests.
Organizers also called on volunteers to serve as greeters for the first time. Young girls dressed in traditional Chinese costumes welcomed guests to the cocktail reception—sponsored by RBC Financial Group—where attendees dined on appetizers such as fresh oysters and clams, sushi, Washugyu beef, Peking duck, suckling pig, dim sum, and a martini bar. The dinner menu, created by chef G.Q. Pan of Blowfish Restaurant & Sake Bar, included a double-boiled bouillabaisse soup, red tuna sashimi salad with beet dressing, roasted marinated duck breast with lotus leaf-wrapped rice, and a dessert from Dufflet Pastries.
The entertainment, sponsored by TD Canada Trust Music, included an opening performance by the Canadian Sinfonietta—a 20-piece orchestra—and a 40-member youth choir called the Young Singers. Images depicting how Yee Hong has evolved over the years were projected onto screens throughout the venue while the choir sang the song "Dream a New Dream." Canadian tenors Destino also performed, and 10 Chinese lions entered the hall from different directions for an energetic piece performed by the Sunny Tang Martial Arts Club.
Event sponsors included Tridel, Rogers, Landmark, Don Valley North Lexus, Lexus of Richmond Hill, BMO Financial Group, Canada Trust, HSBC, Tour East Holidays, Omni, Sing Tao Daily, and RBC. To mark the 20th anniversary of the event, organizers chose to honour two founding sponsors—BMO Financial Group and Sing Tao Daily.
