After leading several years of successful walking tours introducing Edmonton’s two Chinatowns to participants in the summer months, volunteers Freya Fu and Sharon Yeo wanted to continue that momentum and interest in Chinatown into winter. Chinatown Dining Week was born.

The inaugural event took place in 2018, and started with just 5 restaurants. In 2024, Chinatown Dining Week is now in its seventh year, with 24 participating businesses.

The annual event is organized by a volunteer team, with support from a City of Edmonton grant.

The 2024 team includes:

Freya Fu: cofounder of Edmonton Chinatown Dining Week, Freya enjoys bringing people together, sharing stories and building authentic relationships through food. As a community curator, she has been doing community work in Edmonton’s Chinatown for over eight years. Some of these projects include Chinatown Food Crawls and Chinatown Walking Tours. Besides sharing what she knows about Chinatown with others, Freya also dedicates her time to building communities with other Chinese newcomers like her through neighbourhood and hobby groups. 

Jen Tomski: Jen has been involved in the Edmonton Chinatown community since 2018. She has studied Mandarin & now uses her skills in social media, video production, & photography to share her journey learning about culture through her own social media channels where she collectively has over 400K followers. She is also co-founder of Kai Communications, a local digital media agency that specializes in helping Asian-owned businesses succeed in the city. Her true love is bubble tea, and there is always a high chance you can find her at one of #yeg’s local boba shops. 

Karen Velasco: Karen is a foodie at heart and loves exploring diverse cuisines and flavours from different countries and cultures. In addition to her love of food, Karen is committed to getting involved in the community and always looking for ways to get involved and give back. She strongly believes in supporting local businesses, knowing that they play a vital role in the community. Karen loves nothing more than sharing her love of food with her friends. You can often find her at a Korean restaurant enjoying her Sundubu-jjigae.

Sharon Yeo: alongside Freya, Sharon co-founded Chinatown Dining Week in 2018. She has been writing about Edmonton’s food scene at Only Here for the Food for more than 15 years, and also co-founded  What the Truck?!, and Eat Alberta. Sharon sees herself as a #yegfood booster, and wants to ensure the continued vibrancy of a strong ecosystem of independent food businesses in the city. She loves nothing more than a steaming bowl of pho.

For media inquiries, please contact sharon.x.yeo@gmail.com.