This item is a very recent addition to my life list, and that’s mainly because I only discovered what Diner en Blanc was at the beginning of this summer. Pretty much as soon as I stumbled onto the website, however I knew I needed to join one, at some point in my life. Hence, life list.
Diner en Blanc is, at its core, a fancy picnic that takes place all over the world. Guests provide their own food, alcohol, table, chairs, tablecloth, plates and cutlery – everything must be white, except food of course! The location of the event is kept secret up until you arrive, and to get to it you must meet up with a leader (who you choose when you register) who takes you to the final destination.
There is a huge amount of whimsy and excitement to an event like this. Nobody knows where they’re going, but everyone looks unified and happy in their white outfits. Everyone has packed a beautiful dinner with some wine, has picked out table settings and candles, but nobody can get too uppity because there is no VIP treatment! Everyone has to lug in their things, wait in line to be told where to set up the table, put their table and chairs together and get everything organized to eat. It’s a great equalizer.
And it’s beautiful. Just stunning. As soon as I saw photos on the website, I knew I had to be a part of Diner en Blanc, it is just so gorgeous, and looked terrifically fun, too. It’s such a summer event, everyone in white summery clothes, eating light food like bruschetta and nuts, drinking wine. And there’s something so awe-some about the fact that against all odds, over four thousand people came together, all obeying the same rules, all waiting patiently to get their table set up, all wearing white. It just makes you smile, that all these strangers can work together so well.
After everyone is set up, everyone waves white napkins in the air to signal dinner. During dinner, they pass out balloons, to tie to the backs of your chair. After dinner, they pass out sparklers, and all at once everyone lights their sparklers and waves them and it lights up the entire square and everyone looks beautiful, and you release your balloon into the sky, and it’s just all very breathtaking. And then it’s time for dancing! They provided an awesome DJ, and everyone danced outside until it was time to go home.
If you ever get the chance to attend a Diner en Blanc event, I would thoroughly suggest doing it. Yes, it ended up being a lot of work (and costing more than I expected) to get the right sized table, food, white clothes – but it was all completely worth it. 100%.
Oh, and in case you were wondering – the event this year was held at Place des Arts, an outdoor area in our downtown. We were slightly bummed at first, because Place des Arts was our meetup point with our leader! We had been sure that after meeting him, he would be taking us somewhere in the city we’d never been, but instead everyone in Montreal came to us. Oh well! It was still a ton of fun. And fun to answer all the questions from people not part of the event about what was going on!
I leave you with this blurry, but somehow perfect photo I took from the dance floor. Such a beautiful and fun night. xo.
