Diner en Blanc is sold out, but you can buy your way in
The French hotel chain Sofitel is selling $600 packages, including food and transportation.
Diner en Blanc, the annual pop-up picnic that gathers its white-clad attendees at a previously undisclosed location for food, wine, and entertainment, is sold out again for its eighth year, accommodating a record 6,000 people on Aug. 22.
But there’s another way in this time:
Pay $600 for a VIP experience. Through a deal with Sofitel Hotel — a French connection — it’s offering an all-inclusive package, including a champagne toast; the table, food, chairs, and wine; a swag bag; and entry to the after-party.
Significantly, it also includes transportation to the secret location, so there’s no need to join hoi polloi tromping down the street, shlepping their stuff on what’s usually a hot and humid evening.
Tickets alone are $113 a pair.
Dîner en Blanc, launched in Paris in 1988, has grown from a few friends to a spectacle drawing thousands of people in 30 cities. The 6,000 attendees expected in Philadelphia may set a U.S. record.
Organizers Natanya DiBona and Kayli Moran started the Philadelphia Diner en Blanc in 2012 with a picnic for 1,300 people on Logan Circle. Following were 2013’s JFK Bridge, 2014’s Avenue of the Arts, 2015’s the Navy Yards Marine Parade Grounds, 2016’s Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2017’s Franklin Square, and 2018’s Dilworth Plaza and City Hall.