Le Diner en Blanc

Last Thursday I attended Le Diner en Blanc in Toronto. The diner is an event that started in Paris and now takes place annually in cities all over the world. It is invitation only, so you either have to be invited, volunteer, or go on the waitlist to attend. I signed up to the waitlist in March and by some miracle got in! My friend said it was a lottery and another person told me it is a 15,000 person list (I have no idea if this is true) so I guess I was lucky!

Anyway, the diner takes place in a mystery location every year. You deck yourself out in head to toe white clothes, bring a table, chairs, table clothes, plates, wine glasses etc (you can also bring your own picnic dinner or pre-purchase food to pick up there). Then you meet in various locations around the city, where your group is sent to a second location by transit or bus. From the second location you walk to the dinner and finally find out where it is being held! This years dinner had around 2,300 people attending it- it is no small event to coordinate all that! You can see the sheer size of it here

Not my photo- taken by girl sitting next to me!

 Every person that attends the diner has to bring a guest, and I originally invited my friend Jeni for her birthday, but due to some circumstances she had to drop out and I brought my friend Veronica instead! I would have invited Cam, but it was last minute and who in the world can find a white suit on such short notice??

Veronica met at my place and we walked over to our first meeting stop 5 minutes away. We had a dolly to carry our table and chairs, so it was a breeze! After checking in with the group at the first stop, we were then given instructions to take the streetcar to Rees and Queens Quay...except that was only a short walk away so all the people with dollies or strong arms just walked! The diner ended up being held at Harbourfront Centre- really close and convenient from my condo!

I had my hair in a big bun with a white flower- turned out well! 

We got there and had to wait for our group's turn to enter. Upon entering we promptly lost our group because everyone is wearing white and it was crazy! People and tables everywhere! Finally we found out where we were designated to set up and got our table and chairs ready. I went to go pick up our pre-ordered wine (liquor laws meant we couldn't bring our own liquor). The line was long, but I am glad I went when I did because it soon got crazy long and people had to wait over an hour to get their wine and/or food! They had a band playing candlelight versions of popular songs and even had a stage with ice dancers on it- which was really cool to watch while we waited.

Setting up

The diner is supposed to be started when everyone waves their cloth napkins, but most of us had already started eating as they were running late :). Veronica and I packed salad, rice & lentils, and chicken, with cupcakes to finish. It was all so good! When night fell they handed out sparklers to everyone and we lit up the scene. Then the DJ got going and we danced the night away! Around 10:30-11:00pm we packed up our table and chairs and walked back home. There was an afterparty at some club, but us old folks had to work in the morning ;)

Napkin wave

All in all, I had a really nice evening. I was a little disgruntled about the disorganization at times (and I would have been pissed if I had to wait in that huge line!), but it really was a neat event to attend and hopefully next year I can bring Jeni along for her next birthday!