The Welsh are famed for their love of a good party — and what better way to spice it up than with fancy dress. So given their love of rugby, international match days in the centre of Cardiff are a giant party with many people wearing fun outfits and costumes. So where in Wales do hen and stag parties visit for a great night on the town? Newport, Wales’ newest city, has a lively club scene, and Cardiff has a great partying reputation with up to 60,000 visitors crowding restaurants, clubs and bars on busy weekends. Its redeveloped Bay area with chic bars and foreign cuisine has helped to make it one of Britain’s most attractive cities. Swansea, just 45 minutes down the M4, is also a lively party city. Aberystwyth on the west Wales coast has 50 pubs and a student population of 7,000, so many Hen and Stag parties are attracted to its vibrant social scene. Wrexham in north east Wales is popular for group breaks because it has transformed its shopping and held on to the charm of its more historical streets. So where do people get ideas for fancy dress whether they’re off for a night on the town or off to a friend’s house? Most people search the internet, or visit a local novelty or joke shop, to find the right outfit or costume. One new range that has caught the imagination offers the characters from Little Britain, like Daffyd ‘The only gay in the village’. Other popular ranges tend to be gangsters and molls, historical characters, doctors and nurses, superheroes, and pirates. Wales major party dates are the Six Nations rugby match days in Cardiff in February and March, Traditional welsh lady costumes are worn on St David’s Day on March 1, Halloween in October, Bonfire Night on November 5, followed by Christmas parties in late December, and finally New Year’s Eve on December 31. In Wales birthdays, anniversaries, leaving dos and barbecues are often enlivened by fancy dress, and the karaoke — to prove the Welsh can sing better than the English!