Diner en Blanc Vancouver 2016 at the Concord Pacific

Chinese lanterns: a must have table topping for Diner en Blanc :)

A costume designer consultant and her dreadlocked date!

If you look closely, you can spot Zeus.

Creative spray painted pineapple centrepiece!

One of the many entertainers hired to keep picnic goers amused throughout the event

My favourite centrepieces of the evening

Unicorn Spotting

My date and his new ride (he wishes!)

Mary Poppins meets all-white disco party look?

Edible centrepiece

They space travelled from the 18th Century

A table leader gathering her crew before entering

Acrobat putting our ticket money to good use!

This year I wore a Zara cover-up over a nude slip with nude pumps. The pearl necklace on my forehead a friend gifted me from Burma and my pearl chokers are vintage!

BC Place made for a nice backdrop at the Concord Pacific

Science world and the harbour behind one of the lounge areas, which had blow-up couches and a DJ

Sparkly time!

Hanging out with some giant balloons! Some of which escaped into the harbour that night!

Diner en Blanc Vancouver took place at the Concord Pacific this year on Thursday, August 18, 2016. This was my fourth year taking part in the uber annual picnic party, and this year my attendance helped set a record! Approximately 7,000 of us gathered and broke the record for largest dinner gathering held in Canada. This event gets larger and larger every year so that record will be broken again soon enough!

So what flair did Vancouver bring to the all-white party? There was definitely a larger portion of attendees dedicated to wearing costume attire and with performances by acrobatics and dancers donned in white paint, I would say this was the Cirque de Soleil of Diner en Blancs. It was a nice twist on a classic and fitting for Vancouver, which is a city full of strange characters. I can confidently say after my experience of living in Vancouver for a year, that it is bursting at the seams with weirdos. I probably fit in well!

Every year, due to the sheer size and logistical challenges of a secret location, there are some frustrations everyone experiences throughout the evening. This year, there was only one bar set up to give attendees their vino. At Diner en Blanc you cannot bring your own alcohol so virtually all 7,000 of us had to line up at one bar, staffed by maybe 10 people. I ended up just wandering taking pictures for an hour, before cutting in line and waiting about 30 minutes for my two bottles (ticket purchasers are limited to two bottles per two tickets). Henceforth I shall refer to this as the DEB Wine Fiasco 2016. The variety of settings, music, and entertainment at the Concord Pacific, definitely helped make this year a winner in my books (although every year wins, even when it rains! *cough* Calgary *cough*).

Diner en Blanc Calgary, 2013

New Bucket List items: Diner en Blanc Costa Rica & Diner en Blanc Singapore. Let's do it baby =)
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A Visual Artist's Dream: Diner en Blanc Sydney 2014

Michael Leon & Myself

Date: 29 November 2014

Secret Location: Centennial Parklands

Mon coeur!! I am so blessed to have managed to attend this amazing event in two different countries now (Canada & Australia). If you are unfamiliar with the annual uber picnic party "Diner en Blanc," which takes in the most epic scenic spaces in cities around the world, then you wouldn't be alone! 

Diner en Blanc is largely an invite only event. Only a small portion of tickets are released to the public, who must register to be notified of their online sale date. This year that online sale was over in 7 minutes as over 800 registered guests vied for 300 tickets. I was one of the several hundred who did not successfully attain one, but where there is a will there is a way! I managed to snag one 24 hours before the event through Gumtree. For most events this would not be a problem, but Diner en Blanc is both a logistical and aesthetic challenge, not for the weak at heart! Not only must you wear a palette of all white you must bring a white table, chairs, centrepiece, napkins (to wave), table cloth, etc... 

Assembling all these items on top of cooking or purchasing a fabulous feast is no easy feat! Luckily my date was a prop stylist and we were able to speed through the aisles of many stores purchasing all our items as only stylists do!

This event literally melts my heart. I wish that all of life could be this magical. Diner en Blanc is a Midsummer Night's Dream. It is poetry in motion and with the most elegant and friendly guests as well. Everything from the scenic spaces to the art installations to the classical music filling the air, creates a beautiful sensory overload. 

Posted above are some of the photographs I took of the evening before getting down to business er...dinner! As you can see this is an incredibly stylish event that brought out an impressive amount of creativity from Sydney locals.

You can read a fantastic review of the evening on Nigella's Blog.