Somerset House invites visitors to party the night away with the ultimate New Year’s Eve celebration. Guests can enjoy award-winning cabaret collective The Cocoa Butter Club’s mesmerising performances all night long, whilst in the iconic courtyard, visitors can ice skate on the capital’s most spectacular ice rink to soundtracks curated by London’s hottest DJs. To welcome in the New Year, party goers can head to Somerset House’s River Terrace to celebrate the midnight moment with magnificent views of the Mayor of London’s world-famous fireworks display. Just off the courtyard, exhibition Makerversity: Designing for the Real World will be open to explore offering a behind-the-scenes look into the world of innovative creative design.
Somerset House will be taken over for the evening by The Cocoa Butter Club for an extravaganza bursting with song, circus, burlesque, pole and drag led by the warm and witty, velvet-toned songbird, Sadie Sinner. The first company of its kind, the club specifically showcases cabaret performers of colour. Performers for the evening include pole performer and aerial extraordinaire Zaki Musa, Burlesque splendour Donna Divine, belly dancing phenomenon Sunny the SnakeBoy, all around super star Darkwah and The Cocoa Butter Club Kittens Miss Cocoa Amore and The Goddess Gina.
The beloved ice rink located in Somerset House’s spectacular courtyard will be open throughout the night. A staple of London’s winter season, skaters can enjoy their time on the ice in the magically wintery courtyard, transformed this year with new headline partner Switzerland Tourism.
For those looking to dine their way into the New Year, delicious food and drink upgrade packages will be available to purchase. Transporting guests to the Swiss mountains, Chalet Suisse by Jimmy Garcia, in partnership with Switzerland Tourism, will offer special set menus of comforting festive favourites, from traditional and vegan fondue feasts with all the trimmings to indulgent desserts, with a glass of bubbly and canapés to be enjoyed on arrival (pre-booking essential). For a more casual bite to eat, guests can head over to Jimmy’s alpine hut, Little Suisse, serving delicious Swiss Raclette as well as hot chocolate and mulled wine.
Guests can toast to the New Year whilst soaking up views of the ice rink in comfort and style at the elegant Skate Lounge by Whispering Angel which serves Rosé as well as cocktails including Mulled Angel Rosé and Angels Margarita. Alternatively, open-air bars will pop-up around the site, ensuring a New Year’s toast can be easily topped up all evening.
As the clock approaches midnight, guests are invited to go arm in arm with loved ones to watch the fireworks on Somerset House’s River Terrace. Set back from the crowds along the riverside, visitors can enjoy an exclusive view of the dazzling display, before heading back to continue to celebrate the New Year.
After an evening of performances, skating, eating, drinking and fireworks, guests can dance the night away with a DJ set from Bushbby, who explores the sounds and roots of Latin American music.
American Express partners with New Year’s Eve at Somerset House as its Preferred Payment Partner. As part of the American Express® Experiences programme, Cardmembers get access to presale tickets at 10am on Monday 20 November.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Dates: 31 December 2023
Ticket prices start from £60.
Website: somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on
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Address: Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Transport: Underground: Temple, Embankment / Rail: Charing Cross, Waterloo, Blackfriars
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ABOUT THE COCOA BUTTER CLUB
An award-winning performance company, showcasing and celebrating performers of colour! A first of its kind, The Cocoa Butter Club gives a voice to Black, Asian and racially othered performers with showcases, classes and professional productions, including cabarets. Founded in 2016 by cabaret star Sadie Sinner, this is a creative clap back to cultural appropriation, lack of representation and imitation, such as black-facing or in performance.
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE
Step Inside, Think Outside
As the home of cultural innovators, Somerset House is a site of origination, with a cultural programme offering alternative perspectives on the biggest issues of our time. We are a place of joy and discovery, where everyone is invited to Step Inside and Think Outside.
From our historic site in the heart of London, we work globally across art, creativity, business, and non-profit, nurturing new talent, methods and technologies. Our resident community of creative enterprises, arts organisations, artists and makers, makes us a centre of ideas, with most of our programme home-grown.
We sit at the meeting point of artistic and social innovation, bringing worlds and minds together to create surprising and often magical results. Our spirit of constant curiosity and counter perspective is integral to our history and key to our future.
ABOUT SWITZERLAND TOURISM
Switzerland Tourism is the official Swiss National Tourist Office, with the mission to promote Switzerland as a holiday, travel and conference destination.
In partnership with Swiss International Air Lines, Switzerland Tourism presents visitors to Skate with a snapshot of the authentic Swiss winter wonderland experience, not least in our partner regions of Bern, Lucerne and Valais. The Swiss winter offers a multitude of snow sports and fun activities in cosy Alpine villages, Christmas markets and seasonal delicacies in the cities, connected via scenic train rides through the snow-covered landscape. Switzerland is the ultimate and original winter paradise.
Please visit MySwitzerland.com to discover more about winter in Switzerland and connect with us on @MySwitzerland on X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube. #IneedSwitzerland #inLOVEwithSwitzerland