Pop-up picnic celebrates Diner en Blanc's silver anniversary

Guests dine against the twinkling lights of Eiffel Tower To mark their silver anniversary, organisers of the oldest, largest and most exclusive outdoor dinner party in Paris sent 11,000 guests to two of the most iconic landmarks in Paris: the courtyard of the Louvre and Trocadéro where guests dined against the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower. At about 9pm on Thursday night, when the sun began to wane in the Parisian sky, a curious and jaw-dropping phenomenon beset the city as it’s done for the past 24 years: 11,000 people, clad head to toe in white toting picnic baskets, foldable chairs and tables, descended on the two separate sites simultaneously to set up a giant outdoor picnic with swift and military precision.
As in years past, guests of Diner en Blanc (dinner in white) were kept in the dark about the location for the secretive al fresco dinner, but knew to expect nothing short of spectacular given that this year marked the organisation’s 25th anniversary.
At about 8:30 pm, mobile phones across the city rang en masse with text message instructions on where to go for their dinner: 5,000 at the Louvre, 6,000 at Trocadéro - sites chosen for being the most beautiful and symbolic of Paris.
Busloads of guests then disembarked en masse taking over the landmark sites to the confusion of tourists and locals alike.
It could be described as the original flash mob, an event in which thousands of likeminded people coordinate to take over a public space, provide a sort of spectacle for curious passers-by, dine and dance, and then pack up and depart as quickly as they set up, leaving no trace of their party revelry.
But getting to the dinner site is one thing. Scoring an invite to the event is an entirely other affair. To participate, guests have to be invited by a member of the group, a closed, exclusive club of well-connected Parisians.
Meanwhile, in a bid to return to the heyday of the event's original roots when guests donned more elegant, formal dress, organisers will be perusing photos to name the most elegant couple, most original outfit and most elegant hat. Winners will be announced on Facebook in the coming weeks.
The phenomenon, which has now been exported to 40 cities around the world, started out modestly as a fun outdoor picnic idea by Francois Pasquier in 1988. After returning to Paris following a few years of living abroad, Pasquier organised a picnic at a Parisian park in an attempt to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.
In order to find each other, he asked that everyone wear white.
Diner en Blanc cities include London, Sydney, Singapore, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
Source: AFP