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Diner En Blanc Cape Town
Paris’s famous pop-up picnic flash mob event destined for Mother City shores in the summer of 2014
You heard right. Pop-up picnic flash mob.
Dîner en Blanc, which translates from French to ‘Dinner in White’, has, for the last 25 years, called on Parisians to don ivory-coloured threads and descend on a landmark location in the city with tables, chairs, silver, glasses and grub to break bread as part of one great, big mass movement. And now, thanks to the trailblazing organisers, the Mother City looks to follow in Johannesburg’s footsteps and host a local version of the super fresh soiree in the near future.
While no dates have yet been confirmed, a convincing Facebook page announced that the alfresco affair would be "coming soon" to our dear seaside metropolis. The update comes hot on the heels of the Mzansi launch event, which officially lifted off without a hitch in September 2013 in the City of Gold, where roughly 1400 revellers gathered together at the South African National Museum of Military History in Forest Town to eat, drink and be merry.
From what we can gather from the Cape Town event info, tickets will be extended to a few thousand, and the location will remain shrouded in mystery until the last minute. Once the time is right, those who’ve been lucky enough to secure a spot will be told the whereabouts of the secret gathering point, and then the race is on to make to make a beeline to the picnic ground – in refined, elegant French fashion, of course – with all the wares necessary for a proper long-table lunch: think bubbly, table décor and a handful of close mates.
All picnic-goers are supposed to come dressed in white, so it’s possible to differentiate the flash mob of diners from the other riff-raff in the area. Though, let’s be honest, there’s just something pure and pretty about the idea of a large crowd dining angelically under a gorgeous Cape Town starry night.
And while the French event requires attendees to come equipped with everything from nosh to knives, if the Johannesburg get-together is anything to go by, Mother City-ites may need to come with far less. The Gauteng to-do included tables, chairs, linen, the option of pre-ordering picnic baskets and a jam-packed line-up of local musicians.
So, while the nitty-gritty stands to be confirmed, just know that you’ll definitely be expected to rock up with at least one thing: a heady dose of joie de vivre.
Register for Dîner En Blanc Cape Town
Registration for the event takes place in three phases. The first grants registration to friends of the organisation, the second grants registration to friends of friends of the organisation and the third grants registration to those who join a waiting list. It's now possible to sign up for the waiting list. To do so, visit http://capetown.dinerenblanc.info/register.
Dates of registration are yet to be released.
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In the meantime, check out our overview of top picnic spots in Cape Town.
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