AU051 Le Diner en Blanc: A Global Phenomenon

In 1988, François Pasquier returned to Paris after a couple of years abroad.  As a way of resuming friendships with his Paris social circle, he invited about 200 friends to convene in the Bois de Boulogne for an evening picnic, bringing their own dinners and wearing white. It was such a success – despite not being authorized by the Paris city fathers – that he did the same thing the following year, then again and again!  Ten years later attendees in Paris stood at 4000. By 2012, 8 other cities had joined the fray, organizing their own Diners en Blanc according to Pasquier’s strict protocol, and in 2017, the organization counted more than 115,000 dinner guests at some 70 cities on every continent. This year’s Diner en Blanc will take place on June 3rd at an as yet undisclosed location (strict secrecy prior to the actual evening  is part of the protocol) and on June 5th the current organizer, Aymeric Pasquier,  will give WICE members the inside story of the rise of this worldwide phenomenon.

About the Instructor:  Aymeric Pasquier, son of the Diner en Blanc founder, has been managing these amazing dinners all over the world since 2009, overseeing its exponential growth and reconciling the requirements of the organization to the different cultures, municipal regulations, environmental considerations etc. of these 70 cities.  When he is not doing that, Aymeric is a filmmaker and editor, working in Montreal where he has made his home.