On Thursday night, 1,200 Diner en Blanc attendees, all dressed in white, took over downtown Vancouver for the city's inaugural outdoor pop-up feast. As you might expect, this was the kind of event Vancouverites took to with gusto.
In the days before Aug. 29, Diner en Blanc attendees anxious to fulfill the mandatory requirements on the guest checklist scoured the city and nearby big box stores for folding white chairs and small folding tables to go along with the requisite non-disposable dishware, cutlery and glassware; plastic was forbidden.
Finding all white clothing was another challenge, and I wasn’t the only person scanning Robson Street’s summer clearance racks the day of the event, looking with sidelong glances at the other people checking out white clothing and wondering if they were in on the secret. Surprisingly, white men’s shoes could be found for $30 fairly easily, and there were plenty of options out there for women to feel less like a bride and more like a garden partying socialite.
Word of Diner en Blanc spread quickly through social media, helped by articles in local newspapers, so by the time the event took place some 5,000 people were on the waiting list. The website explaining the concept (secret flash-mob picnic for upwards of a thousand people at a famous landmark in the city, all in white and very elegant) warned there was limited space and previous attendees or event volunteers would have priority.
At 6 p.m. pockets of white started popping up around the city, prompting stares from everyone not in on the secret. As my husband and I made our way to Waterfront Station, other pairs of well-dressed people slowly showed up lugging picnic baskets and furniture. Most of the men and some women kept it simple, but some brought out flashy white suspenders and fedoras, feathered fascinators and paper umbrellas to jazz up the monochrome palette.
I must have explained to at least 10 people, tourists and locals alike, that we weren’t going to a wedding and we were just a big group of strangers meeting for a secret picnic.
Finally 6:45 p.m. rolled around and our group leaders started herding us east. Would we end up on transit? Walk all the way to Stanley Park? Or the beach? Diner en Blanc events in other cities are always held at locations easily recognizable in photos. Past locations include the Eiffel Tower grounds in Paris, Battery Park in New York and Place-des-Arts in Montreal.
It turned out all those streams of white converged on Jack Poole Plaza, following the river of white and the sounds of live French music. It was a truly surreal experience joining 1,200 others in setting up our long lines of tables topped with tablecloths and settings in the shadow of the Olympic cauldron.
“It was actually a really tough call choosing Jack Poole plaza,” explained event organizer Tyson Villeneuve. “There are so many iconic locations in this city, many of which we hope will play host to Diner en Blanc for many years to come, because it changes every year.”
By 7:45 p.m. the tables were set (many of them with silver candlesticks, flowers and other creative table dressings) and the ritual napkin twirl signalled the start of the meal. Some people had pre-ordered wine and meals from the caterer, which turned out to be Top Chef Canada winner Dale Mackay. The majority opted to bring their own meals and they really ran the gamut: charcuterie platters with baguettes, sushi and steak. You name it, you’d find it in that sea of white.
Since organizers were hoping for a French-style experience, diners weren’t supposed to leave their seats until the meal finished at 9:45, so it was important to make friends with the people on either side. We had a great time meeting our tablemates and the unusual circumstances turned into a real bonding experience.
Those two hours passed quickly and it was hard to believe how fast 9:45 p.m. rolled around. That’s when everyone took up complimentary sparklers and lit up the night in the evening’s most dramatic moment. Cue the band (imagine a French-flamenco-dance blend) and attendees happily danced and socialized for the next hour before packing up and heading home, with no evidence of having been there at all.
This was Vancouver’s inaugural event, along with 17 other cities including Toronto, Sydney, Barcelona, New Orleans and Singapore. Not bad for something that started as an inside joke among friends in Paris 24 years ago.
“We hope to continue to work with the city and we’re hoping it can be bigger next year,” said Villeneuve. “I know that Montreal started with 800 or 1,200 people and now they’re up to almost 5,000. New York had 1,200 for their first year last year and had 3,500 this year.”
You can get on the waiting list for next year on the Diner en Blanc website.
