British Party?

I need a British or Canadian word for a party. Some kind of slang, preferably. My research only turned up "do" and it doesn't fit well in my sentence. Originally I was going with "shindig" but decided that might be too American. If it matters, it's a semi-formal party, black tie (not white), to honor some secret agents who saved the world. The one speaking is Canadian, but has lived in England for several years.

Here's the sentence. The bold word is the one I'm looking to replace.

"Besides, it's a party! Granted, these kinds of parties aren't always as fun as they ought to be. But it's an excuse to dress up, drink champagne, do some dancing."

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Thanks for all the suggestions!

I was concerned with using "do" because it's plural, and "dos" looks like something computer-related instead of a party.

I like the suggestion of "an affair". I'll probably use that, thanks.

MisterFrancis said:

Affair works well in your sentence. But it only makes sense in the context of your sentence. I can't think of any other construction where affair would be used, though, so watch out if you want to transplant it to a different sentence.

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True. As someone else pointed out, it's kind of a posh word, so I'd only use it when describing a super-fancy party. Both of the parties in my novel are formal affairs, one is black-tie, the other is white-tie, so I think the word would work for either of them. But a regular shindig? Not so much.

IdiotsRUs said:

Like other posters have said, it depends how formal you want to be Do, thing, shindig, knees-up, piss-up, jolly, bash, work do, etc. Those are the ones that really spring to mind.

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Those are so colorful! I love them. If my original "shindig" is British enough, then I think I'll change it back, since that's recognizable to American readers and it fits very well with the character's personality.

Bigglesworth said:

As well as formality, I'd consider what region your character grew up in / retains the speech patterns of / otherwise identifies with. A Londoner may look forward to a knees-up, a Mancunian not so much =)

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Ah, that makes sense. Well, the guy talking is from Canada of the 29th century, so there's no telling what kind of slang he'd be accustomed to, LOL!

JimmyB27 said:

"Besides, it's a party! Granted, this kind of do isn't always as fun as it ought to be. But it's an excuse to dress up, drink champagne, do some dancing."

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That's a great fix, thank you. Would "do" work equally as well for a party held in honor of First Contact with aliens? Because the way it stands now, I use "shindig" for the first party (in honor of the agents who saved the world) and I use "do" for the second party (anniversary of First Contact). Does that sound like it works?

seun said:

I'd go for piss up.

But only if there's wall to wall vomiting and broken furniture.

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Sorry, not that kind of party! The Prime Minister is in attendance, along with alien ambassadors of all sorts. Although, I could see the male MC actually trying to "liven things up a bit" by bribing the orchestra to play something modern and teaching the aliens the Chicken Dance. LOL!

Hmm. Now I really wish I could change one of the party scenes to include that. . . . it would be perfect.