The epicurean phenomenon known as Le Diner en Blanc is returning to Dallas — with new cohosts — after a four-year break.
For the uninitiated: Le Diner en Blanc (Dinner in White) is a French-inspired “posh picnic” where guests, dressed in their finest and most elegant white attire, meet at a secret scenic outdoor location for an evening of dinner, wine, music, and dancing.
The concept is attributed to Francois Pasquier, who in 1988 invited a group of friends to meet at the Bois de Boulogne, a large public park in Paris, for an elegant outdoor meal, according to D Magazine. He asked his guests to bring a dish and a new friend and dress in white so they could easily find one another.
Le Diner en Blanc became an annual tradition as an invitation-only event and grew in popularity with each passing year.
Pasquier’s son, Aymeric, continued the tradition, introducing the idea to various countries around the world. In 2012, Aymeric partnered with Sandy Safi to create Diner en Blanc International Inc., a Canadian company responsible for developing and promoting this exclusive picnic event. It provides training and support for event organizers on six continents and in more than 80 cities.
The upscale picnic is usually a very large affair, with 10,000 or more attendees at each event.
The first such event in Dallas was held at the Continental Avenue pedestrian bridge in 2015 and was attended by about 16,000 guests. Other past locales for the event have included the plaza outside Dallas City Hall, the Dallas Arboretum, Reunion Arena Park, and Southfork Ranch. The last event was held in 2019.
To attend, guests must receive an invitation. Invitations are first sent to members and leaders of the organization, and in the second phase, invitations are sent out to friends of the first group. After that, registration is opened up to persons on a waiting list.
Currently, more than 24,000 people are on the waiting list for the Dallas version of Le Diner en Blanc event, according to D Magazine.
Those who manage to snag an invitation must pay a membership fee ($14) and pay for tickets (starting at $47) for themselves and their “plus one.” In addition, guests must bring tables, white chairs, dining ware, table settings, trash bags, and other necessary accoutrements with them. Attendees set up their own tables and clean up their own trash after the event.
They can bring their own food or pre-order a gourmet catered meal for pickup at the event.
The participants are not informed in advance about the specific location of the event they are attending. Instead, they are instructed to meet at one of several designated locations around the city, where they will then board a bus to be transported to the secret picnic site.
Despite the work and expense involved for Le Diner en Blanc guests, ticket demand remains high.
This year’s picnic in Dallas will be held on September 16 and is cohosted by Cindy Pride and Charita Scott, two friends who first met at Le Diner en Blanc in Houston in 2019, per D Magazine.
For more information or to sign up for the waiting list, click here.
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