Yahoo TV

Over 5,000 people turned out for the Diner en Blanc formal picnic at New York’s Rockefeller Park on Wednesday, July 17, but a thunderstorm forced the ninth annual event to finish early, with guests fleeing the soaking conditions, local media said.

The mass picnic, which is staged in numerous cities throughout the world, encourages guests to “experience the beauty and value of their city’s public spaces by participating in the unexpected,” according to organizers. Guests must wear white and bring their own tables, chairs, dishes, cutlery, white tablecloth, cloth napkins, and glassware to the event, local media reported. Ticket prices are reported to be $106 per pair.

This year, there were more than 60,000 people on the waiting list for an invitation, local media said.

This footage shows a bird’s-eye view of the event, as attendees can be heard finishing the classic song “New York, New York” (written by John Kander and Fred Ebb) amid the sound of thunder. The footage then shows attendees in the rain.

The date of the secretive event is known to attendees in advance, but the location is only revealed at the last minute.

The organizers have not said whether the picnic will be rescheduled. Credit: @techgoddess via Storyful