Music

Eat, skate, rave, repeat: Club Night at Somerset House Ice Rink

There’s nothing quite like swooping around an ice rink in the neoclassical surrounds of Somerset House to get you in the festive spirit. But Somerset House, being the hotbed of culture and music that it is, has to do things a little bit differently, which is how I found myself strapped into a pair of skates and testing out my dance moves on the ice for one of their Club Nights with dance DJ legends, Ministry of Sound.

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To start with, I’ll admit that I hadn’t yet been bitten by the Christmas bug – I tend to think that Christmas celebrations shouldn’t start until the first day of December, when you wake up and get to eat chocolate for breakfast guilt-free. However, stepping into the stunning Somerset House and skating in the shadow of a Christmas tree that’s the size of a house quickly cured me of any sneaking Grinch-orientated emotions I might have had.

Somerset House, as you’d expect, looked beautiful. The lighting was perfect and illuminated the historic building, making the setting even more picturesque. As well as the light show on the building, the floor of the rink was lit up and constantly changed colour, giving even the best clubs out there a run for their money in the atmosphere stakes.

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Combining a stunning backdrop with the upbeat club sounds of international DJs was a stroke of genius, and I recommend you get your ice skates on and go! Somerset Club nights run up until 8 January, with famous DJs spinning sets from across the world and every genre of dance, house and club music covered from Ibiza Rocks to the Lovebox Winter Party and Club de Fromage.

On the night I visited, DJ and producer and Ministry of Sound resident Tim Cullen was on the decks, pumping out enough classic, dance anthems and tracks to keep the whole rink shaking and slipping in time to the beat.

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For me, who can be a bit of a Bambi on the ice, I’ll admit that it was sometimes a struggle to dance without falling over; but considering that Cullen was playing sets like this one below, the risk of bumping my bottom instead of bumping and grinding was worth it and has left me eager to head to a Ministry of Sound event to throw some shapes without the skates.

TIM CULLEN LIVE @ Ministry Of Sound (London) w/LAIDBACK LUKE

Don’t miss the opportunity to glide around this beautiful venue. If you’re not sure what you’re missing, here’s a video of the ice skate rink to get you in the skating (and the dancing) mood:

Skate at Somerset House with Fortnum & Mason 11 November 2014 – 11 January 2015

Get your skates on and grab tickets to the Somerset House Club Nights now!