A waltzmeister, John Langan Band, Louise XIV (the Sun Queen of the Bourbon biscuit dynasty), Rubyyy Jones, Scarlett O'Hora (to name but few) join this grand NYE celebration.

It seems only yesterday that we were dandling 2014 on our knee, taking it to the soft play centre and reading it bedtime stories; yet here it is now: doddery, flatulent and forgetting what it came into the room for. Come and help it go gently into that good night at this NEW YEAR’S EVE MASQUERADE BALL.

IN THE GRAND BALLROOM The waltzmeister TROYLUS SEARLL will waft you down the Blue Danube to imperial Vienna, whirl you round the Riesenrad ferris wheel and then whisk you to the Hofburg ballroom, conjuring up the elegance and grandeur of the traditional New Year’s celebrations at the Habsburg court with a selection of his waltzes, polkas and gallops.

And, after the Viennese, who knows better how to see in the New Year than the Scots? So from Glasgow, following their headline performance at Shakespeare’s Globe, will come the maverick minstrels of the JOHN LANGAN BAND, who will bring All the World to our Stage with their high-energy scotchpotch of Celtic, Balkan, Gypsy, Flamenco and Jamaican folk funk: Jacques Brel and Irvine Welsh scrapping over whose round it is to a klezmer beat.

As 2015 lies gurgling softly to itself LOUISE XIV - the Sun Queen of the Bourbon biscuit dynasty - will take to the decks and stir up the dance floor will a regular royal concoction of Guilty Pleasures.

ON THE CABARET STAGE RUBYYY JONES, our compère beyond compare, will introduce a singing and flinging, strutting and stripping, shocking and schlocking line-up of side show, drag, erotica and burlesque nouveau, including: RUBYYY JONES – the queen of queerlesque, neo-burlesque beauty, sex education performer and force of nature. RUBY WEDNESDAY – Star of reality show “Drag Queens of London”: maniacal, misanthropic, Wednesday’s child is truly full of woe. SCARLETT O’HORA – Scandalous and infamous burlesque belle, flapper and tap-dancing temptress. PEARL GREY – Farthingale fetishist & winner of Burlesque Idol 2014 with her bondage homage to Blackadder’s Queenie. HANNAH LOU – one of London’s sexiest freaks, saucy side show girl with bite and burn.

THE TRAVELLING MENAGERIE In many ancient cultures the skin-shedding snake was the symbol of change and rebirth. So what more appropriate animal could there be for you to stroke for good luck as we ring in the New Year?

And what better place to find one than in TIM MAYNARD's itinerant reptilian menagerie, along with scorpions, lizards and tarantulas?

RING OUT THE OLD Pay your last respects to 2014 in our life drawing room as ART MACABRE and their cast of mourners stage a pagan funeral for the Old Year. Then on the stroke of midnight, dry your tears and wet your nibs as the scene transmogrifies into a Gaelic birthing ritual to welcome the arrival of 2015.

THE GREAT GAME As the inexorable transition from one year to another reminds us, we are but flotsam and jetsam on the roaring torrent of time. So take your place on our HUMAN CHESS BOARD as pawn, knight or bishop and surrender your Will and your Fate to our Golden Game Players, who will despatch you to death or glory in a Ruy Lopez, fianchetto or Queen's Gambit Declined.

Click here for the full lineup.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

COMPETITION: Win 1x pair of tickets to attend New Year's Eve Masquerade Ball at the Conway Hall on Wednesday 31 December from 21:00. To enter the competition, send an email to bojana@run-riot.com with the correct answer in the ‘subject’ box. The winner will be randomly selected.

Q: Who composed The Blue Danube?

A: 1) Josef Strauss 2) Johan Strauss I 3) Johann Strauss II