It’s become cool to hate Dîner en Blanc

The 10th annual Dîner en Blanc was held Thursday night in Philadelphia, and judging by the photos, folks had a wonderful time.

Dîner en Blanc — French for the “dinner in white” — started in Paris in 1988 and has since expanded to over 85 cities across the globe. Organizers choose a city and a date in advance for what’s essentially a fancy outdoor picnic, but — to add a bit of spontaneity — the precise location of the dinner (usually a prominent public space) isn’t announced until the day itself.

Atlantic City held one last month, and Pittsburghers will hold theirs Sept. 24. Wilmington, Del. will host the First State’s own version of the picnic on Sept. 17. Clearly, people are having fun.

That said, it’s not my cup of tea. My brain can’t comprehend paying the organizer’s $60 fee and being forced to lug my own table, chairs, and food down to a spot that I won’t find out about until a few hours before the event is held (this year’s Philly gathering was in Logan Square). But I don’t understand why so many people get so much joy hating on something that’s just a bit of fun in the city.

So can we please skip all the tiresome articles complaining about the event? I get it — August is a slow news month and we’re all scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to write about. But if people take some type of perverse pleasure in spending their hard-earned money on a harmless event like this, is it so hard to let them be?