■ Bubbles, balloons and bubbly were part of the excitement as the Baxter celebrated its annual New Year’s Eve party as the packed audiences bid farewell to 2016 and heralded in 2017. Alistair Izobell’s Kaapse Jol was staged at the concert hall; Ameera Patel and Jaques De Silva’s award-winning, quirky and comedic love story Whistle Stop was on upstairs and comedian Nik Rabinowitz performed in the theatre, along with new kid on the block Yaaseen Barnes in Fortyfied. After the performances the audience converged in the foyer with glasses of bubbly as they waited for the countdown to begin, with the live band under the musical directorship of the inimitable Camillo Lombard.