1st Annual Russian 'Old New Year' Gala Dinner
Guildhall, London, 14 January 2005
New Year's night comes but once a year - unless you joined us for the Russian Old New Year Gala Dinner at the Guildhall on 14 January. This curtain raiser to London's first ever Russian Winter Festival (opened by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone on Trafalgar Square the following day) was the perfect excuse to celebrate New Year all over again.
The evening's festivities were opened with a rousing performance by the Alexandrov Military Choir, the 125-strong voice of the Red Army. Their first UK performance since 1967, it did not fail to live up to expectations. Moreover, as well as being a feast for the ears, many of the guests enjoyed feasting their eyes on the sight of all the military men in uniform!
This was followed with a colourful line-up of folk groups from some of the most far-flung regions of the Russian Federation, including the children's dance ensemble, the Makhmud Esambaev Ensemble, all the way from Chechnya thanks to the generous support of Umar Djabrailov and his brother Hussein, Russian Soul from the Moscow-Ulyanovsk region who had the guests singing and dancing in their seats, the spectacular Faizi Gaskarov dance troupe from Bashkortostan, and the leading Russian gypsy group Loiko.
Pelageya, one of the most popular modern folk singers in Russia, and her band rounded off the evening in style, with moving contemporary interpretations of traditional Russian songs.
The festival atmosphere filled the Guildhall, with guests eating, drinking, singing and dancing. As no Russian party would be complete without the well-loved tradition of toast-making, official New Year toasts were offered by Sergei Kudasov, the Deputy General Director of RIA Novosti, Georgi Muradov from the Moscow City Government, Alexander Medvedev of Gazexport and Lev Koshlyakov of Aeroflot.
Among the 340 guests who participated in the Gala Dinner were Ludmila Svetsova, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, John Ross from the Mayor of London's Office, Grigory Karasin, the Russian Ambassador in London, Umar Djabrailov, Senator of Chechnya, Igor Finogenov, President of Nomos Bank, Dmitry Zimin Honorary President of Vimpelcom, Roger Munnings, CEO of KPMG, Moty Spector, President of Vivid Collection, Igor Beketov from Lukoil, Vladimir Engelsberg from Norilsk Nickel, Pavel Astakhov of Astakhov & Partners, Francois Roche and Fabien Baussart of Eurasian Intelligence, Maxine Maters, Publisher of the Moscow Times, Guy Ker from ITN, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser from the Guardian, beauty industry leading light Jo Malone, ice-skating champions Irina Lobacheva and Iliya Averbukh, film director Andrei Konchalovsky, famous photographer Alexander Gusov, BBC DJ Sadie Nine, Russian Radio DJ Alena Borodina, and the stars of pop groups Glukoza, Uma Turman, Tancy Minus and Discotek Avaria.
A raffle and an auction were held, and all money raised was used to support the not-for-profit, free, public-access festival on Trafalgar Square on 15 January 2005.
Sponsors of the dinner included Gazprom, Credit Suisse and Ivan the Terrible Vodka.
