Once a year in early June, Paris’ very chic gather together for a very secret dinner.

Or so they say. In recent years, Le Dîner en Blanc has taken on epic proportions that have depleted it of its hush-hush nature but also helped to widely popularize the event. Thousands of Parisians dressed head-to-toe in white gather for a luxe (but cheap) dinner prompted al fresco (guys bring the tables and champagne and girls bring the food).

Each year the “venue” changes—last June it was the Champs Élysées, the year before that, the Étoile. 2009’s whereabouts remains, of course, TBA—but scoring the details, and an invite, is half the fun.