Dîner en Blanc Wants You

June 20, 2019 by HughE Dillon Leave a comment

Many of us are counting down the days til the 8th annual Dîner en Blanc, which rolls around every August.

Last week the folks at Dîner en Blanc held their annual sponsor party at the Bourse Food Hall in Old City. Unlike the main event in August, the preview party is open to all without registration. It’s a great way to be introduced to all that is fun and stylish of the summer white party, although I did meet a lot of people who have already been to one, to all of the parties.

Julia Morales, Steven Humes, Amy Needle, Vanyah Harrigan, Amber Hikes and Miguel Martinez-Valle at Le Dîner en Blanc Preview Party at The Bourse Food Hall on Tuesday, June 11.

The highlight of the evening were the 9 tables on display and decorated by Dîner en Blanc table captains. The table decorating contest theme was “Philadelphia’s Festivals and Outdoor Celebrations.” A panel of judges chose the best decorated table, and guests at the party chose the “People’s Choice.”

4th of July Pops
Opera Philly on the Mall
Wawa Welcome America
People’s Choice: Roots Picnic and by Sharon Johnson, a DEB volunteer since we started in 2012! This table even had Questlove’s Cheesesteaks and Questlove Popcorn Seasoning she purchased at Williams-Sonoma.

Judge’s Choice: Bastille Day at Eastern State by **Danielle Milbourne** This table was fabulous- complete with Tastykake Krimpets (a nod to the tradition of throwing them during the event) and Marie Antoinette’s head rotating on a cake stand! It was fantastic!!

East Passyunk Car Show which is coming up July 28

The Diner en Blanc after party will be at the Sofitel Hotel this year.

Miguel Martinez-Valle, Emmanuel Capó, Syrmarie Villalobos and Alondra Anaya– Comcast/NBC10/Telemundo team.

Event date is Thursday, Aug 22^nd (4^th Thursday instead of the usually 3^rd Thursday)
Number of Guests – 6,000 making us the largest Diner en Blanc in United States. REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW, they’re accepting 500 new guests this year.
At the event they gave away 8 free registrations for this year’s event through drawings that encouraged participants to purchase from the Bourse Food Hall vendors and raffle ticket purchases that benefited Broad Street Ministry raising $1,000 for Broad Street Ministry through the raffle. This is the second year in a row we are supporting Broad Street Ministry through raffles and auctions that will continue through registration and the actual event.
At the the May Franklin Square Gala, two seats for Diner en Blanc were auctioned off and received over $5,000, with funds going towards the mission of Franklin Square Gala.
A DEB team also volunteered earlier this month at Broad Street Ministry for their Breaking Bread lunch service.