The Green Jade Garden in Rebero was all white as hundreds of revellers on Saturday June 11 gathered for the seventh edition of Le Dîner en Blanc Kigali — one of Kigali’s premier annual events.

Launched over 30 years ago in Paris, by François Pasquier and his close friends, the celebrated event has grown into an international event spanning six continents and celebrated in more than 80 cities in 30 countries around the world, with Kigali remaining the first African city to host the global event when the Rwandan capital first hosted it in 2012.

This year, Le Dîner en Blanc attracted domestic tourists as well as participants from all over the world – including participants of the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) 2022.

Besides entertainment, Le Dîner en Blanc is organised with a mission to promote friendship, elegance, and a sense of community amongst participants.

In Rwanda, the annual event has established itself as a key component of the country’s meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE) tourism strategy, and to promote local businesses and entrepreneurs.

Sponsored by Illume Creative Studio in partnership with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Volkswagen Rwanda, RwandAir, Britam Insurance, I&M Bank, and Irembo, the event has made its mark not only by offering a unique tourism product, but by promoting local business such as event planning, restaurants, caterers, hotels, retailers, musicians, artists, designers, carpenters, decorators, and tailors.

This year, fashion designers, retailers, and make-up artists have provided special promotions for guests attending Le Dîner en Blanc.

Participating restaurants and catering services included Choma’d, Repub Lounge, Soy Asian Table, Shohola, Inka, and Select Boutique Hotel.

Pre-registered guests were transported from various bus points around Kigali to Green Jade Garden in Rebero, the venue which has been a secret location until D-Day.

This year’s event, the seventh of its kind since its inception in 2012, was attended by over 400 people from different parts of the city. The revellers varied from couples, groups of families and friends who all turned up in all-white fashion attire.

Previously, the event was held in Gacuriro in 2012, Gishushu in 2013, Kagugu in 2014, Amahoro Stadium in 2015, Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village (KCEV) in 2016, and Intare Conference Arena in 2018, while it didn’t happen in 2020 due to the circumstances associated with the Covid-19 outbreak.

This year’s event was hosted by Makeda Mahadeo and entertainment was provided by musicians Inki and Mike Kayihura.

As usual, the guests were the central attraction of the event as they were creative with their outfits, their table décor and the food they prepared.

According to organisers, Le Dîner en Blanc Kigali is among the many arts, culture, and sports initiatives taking place across the country that signify that Rwanda is indeed open.

Today, more than 80 cities around the world host their own Le Dîner en Blanc, including Paris, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Haiti, Chicago, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Singapore, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.