After pandemic hiatus, Dîner en Blanc returns to Vancouver

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Le Diner en Blanc

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When: August 18th

Where: Location to be confirmed

Tickets and information: vancouver.dinerenblanc.com

Started in 1988 by François Pasquier, the original Le Dîner en Blanc de Paris was meant to be a fun summer evening with friends.

In the days of landlines and no text messages, the group of acquaintances and confidants decided to dress completely in white to be able to easily identify themselves in their chosen outdoor location. The pop-up dinner was a success.

Since then, the foodie event has expanded to include 120 cities in 40 countries around the world, including Vancouver.

“The one in Vancouver started 10 years ago, in 2012,” says Tyson Villeneuve, event planner and co-founder of The Social Concierge. “It was an incredibly unique experience. It’s about bringing people together with good food, good wine and a great dining experience.”

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The airy outdoor event comes with some rigidly set rules. Diners must wear all white. You must bring your own table and chairs, picnic basket filled with food, and non-alcoholic beverages, although prepared bites and wine/champagne can be purchased through the Dîner en Blanc e-shop. The table decoration should also be white.

The event venue is kept secret until the “last minute,” so attendees must meet at pre-assigned departure locations, often transit stations to facilitate travel, after which a volunteer escorts them to the event. Dismantling and cleaning is also the responsibility of the attendees.

“Every city in the world does it exactly the same way,” explains Villeneuve. “There are a lot of basic rules and regulations on how the event is run and how it works to derive from the global event that started in Paris.”

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The event’s rigid format keeps organizers and attendees engaged, says Villeneuve.

“Something that keeps us going, from a creative point of view, is the constant change of places,” he says. “And the new and unique ways we can entertain and engage people, and work with the city to create cool angles and places.

“It’s something fun”.

Participation in the event is possible in three stages, according to the organizers.

Phase one is for “members” who participated in the previous event. Phase two is for new attendees who were referred by members in phase one. And phase three is made up of those who signed up on the event’s waitlist and have access to an available space. Tickets start at $48, plus a $10 membership fee for new members.

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The structured style requires a lot of pre-planning and careful organization, as things like location, guest lists, entertainment, and more need to be worked out well in advance.

“We planned it a year in advance,” says Villeneuve. “Working with everyone from city officials to creatives to make sure it’s really well structured and organized, but looks like a magical pop-up window.”

The global pandemic forced the event to be paused, but Villeneuve and his business partner Jordan Coleman stayed active during the downtime, running virtual events with Le Dîner en Blanc enthusiasts, participants and volunteers to ensure they could get a fresh start. as soon as possible. it was safe to do so.

“We were hosting meetups of some of our community members, which was really cool, and we were able to stay connected virtually because, I think, one of the other cool things that’s happening and has changed during the pandemic is the integration of technology into all the events, even dinners,” Villeneuve said. “So we’ve been able to keep our community strong and everyone is very, very excited to get it all back.

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“We just had our first in-person table leaders meeting a couple days ago, and the energy was fantastic.”

The duo plan to keep the element in line with this year’s in-person event, with plans to offer virtual and augmented reality elements.

“We are trying to venture and experiment,” explains Villeneuve. “We’re very interested in how we can integrate cool layers of technology into the event itself.”

For organizers, hosting this year’s event has been “unusual business,” according to Villeneuve.

“Nothing has been business as usual,” he said of the post-pandemic reality of planning live events. “And I think it would be a blatant lie if any event producer today said things are easy or business as usual.

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“We are all emerging from the pandemic, but we are also emerging into a world where inflation is high, labor shortages and supply chain challenges are very real – these are all issues that we have to deal with. daily. ”

Challenges aside Villeneuve is confident that this year’s Dîner en Blanc will be a huge success due to the fact that people want to go out to meet and celebrate with each other.

“I think one of the things that has been so positive about events coming up during the pandemic is that the energy that people are bringing to the table is phenomenal.” Villeneuve says. “I remember, before the pandemic, I feel like we were all dealing with almost event fatigue in some way. And now, I think everyone is so genuinely excited to reconnect in person.”

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This year’s event will be influenced by the ability of the secret location.

“We look for the secret location first, and then we try to maximize the space by working within all the city rules and regulations…to make sure we can create a really great experience for all the guests that are there,” says Villeneuve. . “Our goal is to constantly create a safe and amazing environment within the capabilities that are provided.”

As for this year’s secret location, Villeneuve would offer just a hint.

“The only thing I could say is that it’s an iconic view of Vancouver,” says Villeneuve. “But you know, I can’t say any more than that.”

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