So long 2012! The best and wildest New Year's Eve events and parties in London

A Vintage New Year’s Eve

Celebrate the new year vintage style, with retro pop-up nightclubs, beauty parlours, cocktails, dance classes, Twenties ragtime bands, a Forties swing orchestra, rock ‘n’ roll combos, films and DJs playing tunes from the Twenties to the Nineties.

For £139.50, you’ll also get a three-course meal at a table beside the main ballroom floor of Royal Festival Hall.

Dec 31, 7pm-2am, £80+ 
Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX 
Tube | Waterloo 
southbankcentre.co.uk

Cargo NYE Presents: Post Apocalypse with Ryan Crosson

According to the Mayan calendar, December 21 is the day the world will end.

If you’re still alive 10 days later and fancy throwing some shapes to banging house and techno, courtesy of Ryan Crosson (Visionquest), Lee Curtis and others, Cargo is your spot.

Non-obligatory dress code is post-apocalyptic, Burning Man, cyberpunk or zombie-inspired. Go all-out.

Dec 31, 8pm-6am, £15+
Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY 
Tube | Old Street 
cargo-london.com

Club De Fromage & Old School Indie New Year’s Eve Fancy Dress Extravaganza

Two rooms will do battle at this epic seven-hour party.

Choose from the one playing pop hits such as Lady Gaga and Girls Aloud or dance the night away to indie classics from Pulp, Blur et al in the other.

Expect games, balloons, confetti, silliness and, randomly, meat pies.

Oh, and if you don’t make an effort with your fancy dress costume, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.

Dec 31, 9pm-4am, £22+
02 Academy 16 Parkfield Street, N1 OPS 
Tube | Angel 
clubdefromage.com

New Year’s Eve Swing Spectacular

Start your night in Soho with a gourmet three-course meal (tickets including dining from £60) while listening to the smooth, slick sounds of The Midnight Stompers.

When the feast is finished, Thirties/Forties band Swing Zazou will take to the stage, upping the tempo with must-dance-to music getting everyone on their feet. 

It’ll be a glittering evening, seeing 2012 off in style.

Dec 31, 8pm-3am, £30+ 
Floridita, 100 Wardour Street, W1F 0TN  
Tube | Tottenham Court Road 
floriditalondon.com

A New York Year 

A vintage New York new year. Tuck into turkey and roast chestnut stuffing burgers with cranberry, ginger relish and listen to live jazz and Motown music as New York scenes are projected on to the walls. Low-key fun.

Dec 31, 6pm-12.30am, £20+
Honky Tonk, 6 Hollywood Road, SW10 9HY 
Tube | West Brompton 
honkytonkchelsea.com