What was billed as Lagos’s first-ever “Cake Picnic” — a sweet, community-style gathering inspired by a global trend — has instead made headlines for all the wrong reasons after videos of the event showed scenes of disorder, cake destruction, and disregard for basic etiquette.
The event, founded globally by London-based designer Elisa Sunga, is traditionally a relaxed affair where attendees bring cakes, spread out on blankets, and share slices in a calm, orderly fashion. The key rule is simple: bring a cake to enter. Guests are expected to take photos of the colorful confections before using the provided utensils to collect slices, ensuring everyone gets a fair share before returning for seconds.
But in Lagos, the inaugural edition veered far from that vision. Viral clips from the weekend show attendees abandoning the formalities and diving directly into the desserts — grabbing with bare hands, shoving others aside, and smashing cakes to secure oversized portions. The once-picturesque spread quickly turned into what social media users have dubbed a “royal rumble.”
“It was supposed to be fun and elegant,” one attendee lamented on X (formerly Twitter). “Instead, it became a free-for-all.”
The organisers have also been accused of undermining the event’s own principles by allegedly admitting guests who did not bring cakes, reportedly allowing some to pay an entry fee instead. Critics say this contributed to the shortage of cakes and the ensuing scramble.
The incident has sparked heated debate online, with many questioning whether Lagos can successfully host such highly structured, etiquette-based social events. Others, however, have taken a lighter view, joking that the chaos gave the “Cake Picnic” a distinctly Nigerian twist.
Whether the event returns next year remains uncertain, but for now, the images of smashed frosting, scattered crumbs, and sugar-fueled mayhem have ensured that Lagos’s first “Cake Picnic” will be remembered — just not for the reasons organisers intended.
Source: TikTok | Beeplebeepybeep, X | ChuksEricE
