Guests dressed in all white for Diner en Blanc

Diner en Blanc participants wave white napkins in the air during the Diner en Blanc Seoul event held Saturday in Banpo Hangang Park, southern Seoul. / Courtesy of Diner en Blanc Seoul

By Yun Suh-young

Diner en Blanc, a special event where people wear all white from head to toe and eat dinner together, was held for the first time in Seoul, Saturday.

The event was held at a square across from Some Sevit, a floating island at Banpo Hangang Park. One thousand participants clad in white adorned the scene, creating a spectacle against the backdrop of the colorfully illuminated artificial island.

The event, which started in France in 1988, expanded its presence across the world to over 60 cities including New York, Quebec, Barcelona, London, Sydney, Singapore, Stockholm, Tokyo and Shanghai. Seoul was the fourth Asian city to hold the event and Busan, which will be hosting it later this year, will be the fifth. In 2016, several more cities will join the list including Sao Paolo, Budapest and Las Vegas. About 100,000 people have participated in the event so far.

The Seoul event was held in celebration of the 130th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations. Specially for the Seoul event, Lotte Card sponsored while Diner en Blanc hosted the event.

"It is delightful to be able to share French culture with a wider audience," said Fabien Penone, French Ambassador to Korea, who also participated dressed all in white from head to toe.

"It was fun to see how the event was reinterpreted in a Korean way in terms of fashion and food. I look forward to the next event."

Diner en Blanc, which translates to "Dinner in White" in English, is a secretive dinner party where the location of the event is unrevealed until the last minute. The party is exclusive ― only those who have been invited by Diner en Blanc are allowed to participate. To be invited, one has to receive an invitation from the host or someone who has attended the event before. The third option is to register on the website and receive a confirmation.

The party was started by Francoise Pasquier, a Frenchman who had lived overseas and longed to meet his friends when returning to his country. In order to meet a large number at once, he decided to hold a party and, to be able to spot each other easily, he suggested they wear all white. After the first event at Bois de Boulogne, more people wanted to participate and thus the official concept of Diner en Blanc was born. In 2012, Pasquier established the official organization Diner en Blanc International to host the party more systematically.

Those who attend the event must bring their own food and any other items for dining including table and chairs. Those who wish to have food prepared by a chef can pay to preorder food. For the Seoul event, chef Ryu Tae-hwan of Ryunique, which won 27th place in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, prepared the food.

Visit seoul.dinerenblanc.info for more information on future events in Korea.