Tee Hee! I'm glad my good friend is very socialized and well informed about Vancouver events. Xin went to this annual event last year and highly recommended it to me. From her description, I could totally sense that it was an exciting event and something that was very different to my day-to-day life.
There are many rules to this event. The tradition of this event is about everyone dressing in white only for a mass picnic dinner in a secret location. Location will only be revealed at the very last minute, so everyone will be meeting up in their selected location with their relative group mates.
Oh, and another big rule is, everyone has to bring their own picnic accessories (Yes, I meant folding table,chairs and the list goes on) as well as preparing their meals unless you pre-purchase the on-site meals prepared by Hawksworth Restaurant.
In short, it's a dinner in white as claimed by its title.
Because it sounds like a stunning picnic, getting an invitation to it is challenging. There are three phases to the application process. Phase 1 is for returning guests exclusively. Phase 2 will be open to anyone nominated by the guests from Phase 1, and Phase 3 is generally for the people on waiting list. Due to an overwhelming response, this event leaves many disappointment to people every year who fail to grab a seat. I was lucky I was one of the 3500 picnickers to join this elegant event.
We met up with our group leader and other group mates at Vancouver Art Gallery. It was mesmerizing to see a white crowd segregating in such an artistic building on a weekday, and the event concept was outstanding instantly . I could not imagine seeing 3500 people in white at the actual event when I was already fascinated seeing 300 people dressed up in the same colour as me at once, it was definitely a feast for the eyes.
This year's location was revealed to be David Lam Park at Yaletown. I had been to this park once to volunteer for a Tom Lee's Music Festival few years back, and I was a little disappointed when I saw the venue at first, as compared to last year's spectacular view at Stadium Science World. The place looked smaller and simply lacking the vow factor.
As more and more people set up their table and chairs, the entire place instantly transformed into a fancy place as though it was hosting a Gala dinner. Felt so surreal to be immersed in a romantic atmosphere as such.
One fun part of the event was the way dinner time was announced, guests would wave their napkins in the air together to signal the start of dinner time.
Baby and I split up the cooking task this time, in which I was in charge of the appetizer and I left the main course entirely to him. So grateful to have a man who is willing to go into the kitchen to prepare a meal for me.
My prince charming was glowing under the sun and looking good effortlessly. :)
The organizer was thoughtful to come up with some extravagant decorations, including the love balls and vintage car.
Somehow, the venue looked much better after all the decorations. It gave 'partying in the centre of the city' kind of feel.
The dinner ended with sparklers lighting and sending the paper lanterns into the sky. Every guest was given a sparkler to light up together when announcement was made. Yes, this is an event about 'togetherness' to create a uniform view. :) It was also the uniformity which made me feel magical.
While the former part was easy, latter one was definitely much more challenging. Paper lantern floats in an uncontrollable direction, hence it's actually quite dangerous to do this in a tight space with so many trees and buildings around. I did not realize this until I saw the lantern flying right across my friend's head, slightly touching his hat before going all the way up. Whoaaaa that was really nasty! I'd rather forgo the beautiful moment for safety.
Let alone the little nasty moment, I really enjoyed myself that night. :) What's more awesome than having a good meal with my lovely friends, chilling under a sunny weather while enjoying the visual wonder created by people who share the same feeling. It was one-of-a-kind experience that I'd barely have.
