How is it that this overly fancy dinner/picnic is still running in Singapore, despite the controversy it’s caused both locally and internationally all these years? For the uninitiated, this fancy, supposedly “exclusive” dinner/picnic event began almost three decades ago and is now going into its fifth year in Singapore. Le Diner en Blanc – Singapore returns on Jun 3, and as usual, will be held at a secret location that will only be revealed at the last minute, in full view of the uninvited. Last year, it was held at Old Kallang Airport.
This year, a brand new team consisting of DJ and experienced event organizer Alexis Lhoyer, founder of event planning company Chab Events and Chab Video Production, Guillaume Chabrieres and brands advocate entrepreneur Jasmine Tuan will be in charge of organizing and hosting the event. This annual all-white mass picnic was said to be elitist and lacked cultural understanding because local food like tau huay, chwee kueh and chicken rice couldn’t pass off as “gourmet dinner”.
So how did this whole spectacle start? Francois Pasquier didn’t have enough room in his Parisian apartment to host a group of friends for a party. He then suggested to his friends to invite someone and meet at Bois de Boulogne (a large public park in Paris) all decked out in white so that everyone can identify the group. But that was 1988. These days, we can just text someone if we ever did something like this. The seemingly simple dinner has since turned into a worldwide phenomenon run by Diner en Blanc International, who licenses the event to more than 70 cities. Cue eyeroll.
Nonetheless, if you’re interested in attending, it’s not going to be easy. Unless you’ve already been to a previous dinner, you’ll need to receive an invitation from someone who has, or register and wait until a spot opens up. Even then, you’ll have to pay $46 for a ticket and pay $13 for membership. And have we mentioned the ridiculous rules? The affair requires you to turn up (“mandatory”, they say) regardless of weather conditions in an all-white, elegant attire (no ivory, off-white, or any other variations). You’ll have to bring your own table setting (white table cloth, white plates, white-everything!!!), bring a 70x70cm table, two white chairs and a picnic basket of “fine food” (whatever that means, otherwise, you’re welcome to order a catered picnic basket to be picked up on-site). Also, they’re only serving champagne and wine because apparently beer and hard liquor is beneath them. And no, you can’t BYOB like the other countries because of Singapore’s alcohol regulations.
While words like “pretentious” and “high-brow” are often thrown around when it comes to Diner en Blanc, the event is ultimately just an indulgent gastronomic fare for indulgence sake. We get it, but there’s still a fine line between a cool themed event and an overtly pompous and self-indulgent spectacle. You can read more about the event here.
Check out what went down in 2014.
