Everything you need to know to nail your Cardiff Freshers’ nights out

If you've got your results and are now a to-be Cardiff fresher reading this, congrats! You have an amazing few years ahead of you, and many, many drunken night to get through. You're also probably confused as hell about what exactly all these freshers events are about, right? Well, here's a guide to help you through the wilderness.

Wristbands

Ah, the wristbands. You've probably seen these being advertised absolutely everywhere, with everyone claiming to be "the best", "the only official" and so on. The truth is with bands is that yes, they do save you a decent amount money if you plan on going out pretty much every single night (legend) and they will also save you the disappointment of queuing – probably in the rain, we are talking about Wales here – and not actually getting in due to the event being at capacity. However, if you're not planning on going out that much, it probably makes more sense to hedge your bets and chance it on the night. If you won't get into one place, pretty much every club in Cardiff is gonna be open anyway.

The Students' Union

So although they've opted out of doing a physical wristband this year, the Union still have events on for 9 days and they're available to buy in a job lot for £30, which is a step down from last year's £45, so fair play. Although it's easy to just want to commit to the official University events as you wanna meet people from your uni, don't bother. You don't do much meeting and greeting when you're absolutely battered, so it won't make a difference what uni the people at the event go to. The best few events that the SU are hosting over freshers are definitely 'YOLO Relaunch', 'Bingo Lingo' & 'Juice', so those are the ones worth having your money. Get them here.

Paper

The Paper Parties band always bring it to the table. They run pretty much all of the best nights in Cardiff all year round, so you know they can be trusted to run good events for freshers! This year they're offering 3 whole weeks of events and also have fortnightly bands starting at £35, which includes an S Club 7 Live Performance, a Baywatch Party, Back to the Nineties Party, Marcel from Love Island at Pryzm, Freshers Fiesta (where the whole street is shut off and 3 clubs are merged for a street party), and even a Freshers' Ball! There are cheaper versions of this band too, where you can mix and match the different events you're after, but it seems good value. Get them here.

Climax

Climax also have a wristband, which you can buy as either one or two week packages and they both come with Inside Out Festival included -there isn't an option without the festival. The best event in their wristband lineup (excluding the festival) is probably Basshunter at Pryzm, as everyone loves a good Basshunter throwback. As for the rest of the events, there are a lot at Tiger Tiger – great if you love the 'cheeky Nando' types – and a "Secret Party" at the end of the fortnight. The fortnight bands are currently on sale for £50 and you can get them here.

Individual Events

Inside Out Festival

On the 30th of September Bute Park hosts Inside Out Festival, where all of the above acts are set to perform. Get tickets here.

Bingo Lingo

Ok, bear with. It's bingo, but everyone's hammered. Usually held down the far end of town at Depot, the Students' Union are hosting it for freshers. No grannies to be seen.

Icebreaker/Freshbook/F*ck me it's Freshers/House Party/Freshers' Zoo

These random individual events pop up every year and they always look huge. Maybe this year will be different.