Diner en Blanc Honolulu 2016

Honolulu’s third annual Diner en Blanc participants arrived at the first floor exhibition hall of the Hawaii Convention Center Saturday evening. The location was revealed shortly before the 22 buses transporting more than 1,500 people arrived at the venue.

The concept of this posh event began in 1988 when François Pasquier invited his friends to an elegant picnic in Paris and asked them to wear all white so he could find them. Since then, the event has grown to more than 15,000 locations around the globe. The rules are strict: to be added to the list, you can request an invite online or you must be invited by a guest and wear all white, hence en blanc. If you break one of the rules, you risk being black-listed from future parties. Aside from the dress code and all-white linen dinner set-up, once you get to the secret location there are no rules.

At first, when attendees were made privy to the Hawaii Convention Center’s Rooftop Garden location, the reaction was mixed.

Having debuted at Iolani Palace in 2014, and then Ko Olina last year, some asked, “Why here?”

As the 1,500+ attendees began to file out of the buses, the excitement grew.

Super CW and DJ Gem greeted the busloads in white with major sounds.

It was quite the trek to the location as guests went through the underbelly of the Convention Center.

This is what it looked like in the industrial elevators with two dozen people ready to party.

As soon as they arrived at the rooftop location, attendees seemed to love the venue and it was all about setting up.

Here’s a look at more of our favorite Diner en Blanc moments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– Photos by Amanda Stevens