The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CAROUSAL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
C
A
R
O
U
S
A
L
More clues leading to the result CAROUSAL
- Constant stimulation in wild party
- Wild party? Cold awakening
- Drinking song about America
- See excitement in booze-up
- Party song going round America
- Excitement follows clubs in festive drinking
- Festive drinking in clubs leading to excitement
- Leader of Conservatives stirring wild party
- Song about Uncle Sam getting drunk
- What’s sung around America in revelry
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Festive drinking" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case festive drinking = carousal.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.