Fans of the iconic event series Dîner en Blanc will be excited to hear that it will be returning to New York City on Friday, September 19, 2025. Founded in Paris in 1988, the organization hosts large-scale dinner parties around the world, where guests dressed in all white are led to a secret location for a glamorous night of festivities. Attendees traditionally bring picnics, dishes, glassware, and even their own tables and chairs, so that when they depart, the makeshift banquet vanishes without a trace, leaving only fond, dreamlike memories behind.
While this year’s location won’t be revealed until the night of, past NYC iterations have transformed sites like the Meatpacking District and Union Square into vibrant gathering spaces. An estimated 4,000 guests will converge on a mystery location somewhere in the Big Apple in 2025.
This year, the renowned New York-based French Chef Daniel Boulud will be curating two different picnic baskets (each of which serves two people) for the event, available for advanced purchase online. The first, priced at $130, contains dishes like green gazpacho, paté en croûte, smoked salmon with cream cheese, crudites with various dips, roasted chicken salad, garlic focaccia, raspberry shortcake, and orange blossom madeleines. The second, which is all-vegetarian, is priced at $115, and includes dishes like green gazpacho, a spinach & leek quiche with mimolette sablé and Tête de Moine cheese, crudites and dips, Vadouvan cauliflower, garlic focaccia, raspberry shortcake, and orange blossom madeleines.
“Dîner en Blanc always brings a burst of French summer feasts to cities around the world in a celebration of friendship, fashion, and food,” said Chef Boulud in the event’s press release. “As a French New Yorker, I’m honored to prepare a festive picnic basket for this magical evening. It will certainly be the largest and chicest gathering of fête à la française!”
The event will also be partnering with Chambord, the iconic raspberry liqueur from the Loire Valley. The brand will provide a photo booth and custom floral garnish bar, both designed to tap into the evening’s theme, “Blooming Elegance.” There will be a gold Chambord fountain where guests can make themselves a Chambord spritz, and bottles of Chambord will also be available for pre-order online, for those planning their own bartending endeavors.
If you’re hoping to attend, register online now. The first few batches of tickets have already been released, so new members will have to sign up to be notified of the next phase of invitations. Once you get your ticket, it’s time to start planning! Don your most fabulous all-white finery, invest in a gorgeous vintage picnic basket, stock up on your favorite luxurious treats, and make sure not to forget your flowers—whether that’s a lace shawl with a floral pattern, a corsage of white roses, a single white orchid boutonnière, a sprig of baby’s breath in your hair, or a vase of elegant gladiolus to decorate your table.
Catherine Rickman is a writer, professional Francophile, and host of the Expat Horror Stories podcast. She is currently somewhere in Brooklyn with a fork in one hand and a pen in the other, and you can follow her adventures on Instagram @catrickman.
