Le Dîner En Blanc dazzles Lincoln Park for 10th anniversary celebration

Worldwide sensation Le Dîner En Blanc returned to Chicago for its 10th-anniversary edition on Wednesday night, bringing a glamorous evening of al fresco dining, drinking, dancing, and fashion to Lincoln Park.

Le Dîner En Blanc is a one-of-a-kind dinner party experience in which participants don their best all-white finery, come together with friends, and enjoy an all-night celebration of food, arts, and culture.

Since its inception in 1988, Le Dîner En Blanc has become something of an international phenomenon, with iterations taking place in more than 140 cities around the world. The key to the event’s viral success lies in its ceremonial structure, which engages attendees in various thematic elements and customs.

First and foremost, guests must wear all white—the more elaborate the getup, the better. Second, the location of each edition remains a secret until just hours before the soirée. Third, guests must bring their own table setups, dining ware, food, drinks, and decorations, giving everyone the chance to curate their own unique Dîner En Blanc experience.

The ethos of the all-white aesthetic central to Dîner En Blanc is simple: to make guests easily identifiable to one another upon arrival. With the annual location a closely kept secret, the all-white dress code allows attendees to easily find other partygoers on the day of the event and make their way to the location without any confusion.

The dress code is also an effective means of prompting intrigue from those passing by. As one makes their way to Dîner En Blanc, it's not uncommon to be approached by a passerby and asked, “What’s with the all-white?” Everybody wants to be in on a secret, and it's this intrigue that has allowed Dîner En Blanc to garner such a large global following.

Make no mistake, Dîner En Blanc is more than a picnic. The event draws thousands from across Chicago each year, and guests go all out, sparing no expense when it comes to dressing up and crafting the perfect table setup.

Walking through the aisles, one bears witness to elaborate light fixtures, opulent floral displays, and themed decorations atop nearly every table. Picture the Met Gala meets Derby day meets dining on the Champs-Élysées—Dîner En Blanc is a decadent affair, with a spirit of inclusion and connection at its core.

For its 2024 edition, Dîner En Blanc blanketed the lakefront park in a sea of white garments and twinkling lights. The lush expanse of greenery and hills, a rare sight in our otherwise flat city, proved to be the perfect backdrop for the event. Guests wined and dined under a canopy of trees, enjoying traditions like the signature napkin twirl, a sparkler toast, and photo ops galore.

New for this year was the stunning Grandeur Fashion Show, made possible in collaboration with Belamatrix Photography, fashion designer Raj Patel of Karmic Couture, and Trendsapio .

Guests lined the central walkway for a showcase of experiential fashion moments and a first look at some of the year’s hottest designer couture. The evening drew to a close with a live DJ set and plenty of dancing.

Despite the many moving parts involved, guests pack up their Dîner En Blanc setups as quickly as they put them together. In the blink of an eye, the event dissipates into the night, only to pop up again in a year’s time at a new and exciting locale.

Visit Le Dîner En Blanc’s official site to learn more about the history of the intercontinental event and stay in the loop for next year’s iteration.