“The best thing about the year is the ending and the beginning in one night”, said a not famous person, however I do agree. The kouyr miutyun (Homenetmen, A.R.S and Hamazkayin) annual New Year’s Eve celebration never disappoints the expectations of the people.

This Year sister organisations made the decision to improve the prestige of their event, a decision which I strongly supported. The differences from prior years were imminent before the event even started, with the choice of having the occasion in a more lavish hotel, in a far more central location, Hilton Paddington to be specific. The night opened with a champagne course, no Tesco finest Prosecco though, Veuve Cliquot no less (I myself am more impartial to a Rose Laurent Perrier or a 2003 Dom Perrignon, but I certainly have no complaints for free unlimited Veuve Cliquot).

We then proceeded into the main hall with Masis Yessayan and his band, a group who had built a highly respected reputation in the Armenian Community of London. Each ticket came with a free bottle fine wine; a fine starter of goat cheese quiche then greeted us. The main course was a puree potato with poached chicken, prepared to a much higher standard than the chicken of previous years. The desert was an exquisite round of raspberry cheesecake, a fine choice by the chef, who ended the night with my complements. After a superb supper we went on to celebrate the New Year without noticing the time ticking by, if you’ll pardon the pun. The band was able to perform with a non-stop high standard through out the night, into the early hours of the morning. A free unlimited photo booth was available to whoever wanted to solidify their memory of the night, (pun intended), the quintessentially perfect way to capture the memory of the night.

To conclude, the raised standard of the night was an opportunity for kouyr miyoutyouns to truly show their ability without failing to impress. There was no better way to introduce the Armenian Diaspora of the greatest city in the world (after Stepanakert) to 2014.

— Stephan Gasparian