New boules please - the trendiest game in London

Guerrilla pétanque. It's not a phrase I ever expected to hear. Yet that's exactly what Olly Dixon, one third of electro-dance poppers Filthy Dukes, has just arranged for the Garden Festival in Croatia, an annual magnet for partying Londoners that wound up yesterday.

As well as being a Duke, Dixon is a co-founder of the East London Pétanque Association, a group of like-minded lobbers from the music, fashion and lifestyle networks in which he moves. These are dapper, deck-shoed twenty- and thirtysomethings who love nothing better than a gravel strip and some small metal balls.

They are not the only ones either — all across London, trendy types are playing pétanque. While in France this easy-to-learn variation of boules might be the fusty preserve of drunken old men — some 17 million of them, in fact — here it's played more by the hip than the hip-operated.

The 2010 class of Pernod Ricard's annual pétanque tournament last month confirms as much. "It was full of young Londoners, French and English alike, showing off their best pétanque moves, dancing to jazz and reclining on the grass in Panama hats," recalls Rebecca Connell of the pastis brand.

The sport is quickly gaining in popularity, too. "Since our first event, numbers have risen dramatically," she continues. "This year, we chose a more exclusive, convivial atmosphere with the Chelsea Physic Garden, yet it still easily reached the capacity of 900."

Such events are firmly in vogue. Pernod Ricard is also hosting weekly exhibitions in Spitalfields every Tuesday in August, while Veuve Clicquot threw a recent "pétanque chic" party in Paris. Even Karl Lagerfeld is involved, laying on a match in St Tropez prior to his cruise collection presentation — the players (including Diane Kruger and Vanessa Paradis) were provided with custom-made Chanel boules.

And now Dixon is taking things a stage further. "We're planning events at festivals around Europe," he says, with London's Field Day on July 31 included on the list.

"Then, in September, we'll hold a devoted boules bash. It'll be like an old-style rave, with a secret location announced on the day, live music, games and even some pétanque legends turning up."

Don't think London's pétanque scene is confined to organised socials, though. Players regularly convene at Kennington's quaint Cleaver Square, where boules can be combined with champagne picnics or G&Ts in the Prince of Wales pub. The Lido-side strip in Brockwell — or "Boulewell", as the pétanque fraternity call it — is also a mainstay. Hays Galleria in London Bridge is the chicest spot, while Larkhall Park's piste is considered the most Provençal, thanks to its deep stones.

You'll need to bring your own kit to most of these venues — though finding any can be tricky. As well as Chanel's £1,665 set, Louis Vuitton has its own stylish version which will cost you £1,450. On-trend Londoners will be looking for something cheaper, which has no doubt boosted interest in the new range of (not such high-fashion) boules accessories from sports gear outlet Decathlon.