Photos provided courtesy of Dîner en Blanc.
Fifth Avenue looks as it usually does in its stolid gray tuxedo before turning a right onto 17th street where I am flanked by an explosion of head to toe, white clad effervescent party goers. With Dîner en Blanc, the party comes to you, as it has been since 1988. This year’s event, held on Sept. 26, saw a turnout of nearly 3,000 revelers.
Traditionally, the location is announced minutes before the event takes place in a major city. Attendees must show up in all white, guests must bring their own picnic supplies, and the only alcoholic beverages permitted are champagne and wine. Once the white table cloths wave through the air, the event begins.
Speaking with the creator, a jovial Sandy Safi, I fetch a deep sense of relief that the weather cooperated. ‘Our next stop is Atlanta and we eventually land in Puerto Rico in November.’
It’s clearly a lot of work, and it all seems to pay off when taking a quick glance at how psyched everyone is to be there. This location would seem to offer its own logistical hurdles for the organizers. As a resident living nearby, It’s hard enough to catch a train out of Union Square, let alone throw one of the world’s most famous traveling parties. Diane Blackman (head of PR firm BRPR that launched Dîner en Blanc stateside in 2011 and has repped the event since then) and her husband Rob , make the rounds with a bottle of champagne. “Come see the costumed honeymooners,” Rob calls. I waltz over to a table of women in bridal gowns and men in white suits and admire the grandiose wedding cake atop their table. I take a look over my shoulder and I’m entranced by a woman in stilts cutting the profile of a floating ice queen.
The party is as just as much about the fashion as it is about the revery. When color is a controlled variable, the clothing becomes more about the outlandish form where decadence is a virtue. I dance over to another table where some attendees reminisce about festivals past, trading stories about past parties and weather grievances. I realize that past attendees wear a rainy Le Dîner en Blanc as a badge of honor. I remark to Sandy that we’re sitting across from Tammany Hall, the seat of New York political power in the 20th century— Ed Janoff executive director of the Union Square Alliance chimes in as well to point out that we’re wedged between two former Warhol Factories. My comments are a tinge off color as the whole point of Le Dîner en Blanc is to get lost in the infinite shades of the present experience. To enjoy it now, for it’ll feel like a dream tomorrow.