The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SALON
S
A
L
O
N
More clues leading to the result SALON
- Little Sarah working in hairdressers
- In hospital see facility for hairdressing?
- Room for improvement?
- No US city’s backing artistic gathering
- . Lad has invested almost everything in hairdressing shop
- Look into hospital, where cuts are commonplace
- No money in fish shop
- Room letters regularly overlooked in small town
- Girl working in a beauty parlour
- Girl taking on hairdressing business
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "social event" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case social event = salon.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.
What does SALON mean?
SALON noun- A large room, especially one used to receive and entertain guests.
- A gathering of people for a social or intellectual meeting.
- An art gallery or exhibition; especially the Paris salon or autumn salon.
- A beauty salon or similar establishment.