Diner en Blanc: A pop-up dinner for 1,300
The "secret" dinner, for which attendees wear white and tote their tables, chairs, and food, takes over Logan Circle.
Diner en Blanc: A pop-up dinner for 1,300
Thirteen hundred spirited folks showed up at Logan Circle Thursday night for Philadelphia's first outing of Dîner en Blanc, which you might regard as a combination flash mob and pop-up picnic, intended to provide a midsummer night's communal experience.
Everyone wears white and totes his/her own tables, chairs, and food to the gathering spot. About 6:30 p.m., people were escorted to Logan Circle for the evening.
A fun-loving Parisian launched the first Dîner en Blanc in 1988 with just a handful of friends, and it's been held in a dozen cities around the world.
This event cost $59 a couple, which volunteer organizers said paid for permits and entertainment.
As the night wore on, many attendees ended up in the Logan Circle fountain, as The Inquirer's Inga Saffron observed with her cell camera.
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this is racist. Only white people?— comin4ya23- Seriously????? Haha — onesuze
- Please point out in that piece where it says white people only. On the news last night they interviewed a few people and there were all races.....but were all in white,,,,,— Audang
- yeah this doesnt actually look very fun; I can feed myself on my own tables and chairs at home...in my underpants.— KYS24
- There are women of color in the upper left of picture 5.— Col. Nathan R. Jessup
- I think comin4ya23 was being ironic because everyone wore white. Get a grip people.— ej610
- Thoroughly uncompelling. No way I'd go to this thing.— hotelguy
- Yeah, white, suburban, conservatives would rather eat their delivered Domino's pizza on the couch (no plates or utensils) while watching television alone. That sounds like so much fun.— John Fante
- The aerial shot of the dinner at the fountain is quite pretty and quite unique. Notice that no event permit required. No ticket sales and closing of our streets. No overtime on security or street cleanup because everyone had control of themselves and whatever children were present; and since you are only feeding your own group or family, no parkway-feeding permit required. As for diversity-- I saw racial diversity present and it shows in several of the pictures. I personally know some of the white and non-white people who are visible in these pictures-- it was inclusive. This was very creative, didn't cost people an arm and a leg, and it was safe, clean get off the sofa fun. Perhaps some of you who see things as "for white" or "for black" or for any particular group, need to get off your rear ends and just attend events.— Sherwood Forest
- Now all we need is the Rev Moon to marry these poor slobs... Get a life people.— Anthony1957
- I hate everything! This is something, so I hate it!— Mackey Dingo
- Jeez louise, how can anyone have a stick up their rear over this? It was fun, and yes, I was there. It was no more a "fancy dinner" than anyone chose to make it, since everyone brought their own food. Whoever was there was there. If there were fewer people of color than the percentage of Philadelphia's overall population (and it's true, that's how it played out) what's the alternative, hold no event unless it meets some demographic pre-profiling? And if the idea of attending doesn't appeal to you, how difficult would it be to hope everyone who *did* attend had a great time? Philadelphia is improved, not diminished, by thinking well of people and events that might not appeal to you personally. Sheesh.— skip1515
- One other thing: the group that we were assigned to (by lottery or some other random system) included folks from a wide sampling of addresses: Fairmount, Roxborough, Gibbstown NJ, Reading, Old City, South Philly, Lafayette Hill, etc., etc. — skip1515
- So let me get this straight....you bring your own food, tables, chairs, etc and pay $60 a couple for "permit and entertainment". 60 bucks x 650 couples (1300 people attended) = $39000. I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that a permit and 'entertainment' cost that much for the event. Someone scammed these people out of A LOT of money— SJUSteve
- Do they take their trash & garbage with them when they leave?— Borkey
