New Year's Eve: 'Why we're happy it's cancelled'

For 23-year-old Dayna, New Year's Eve in Cardiff is usually a really big deal. And it's the same every year.

"I usually over-tan, have big bouncy hair and a sparkly dress on," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat. "That's exactly the way forward for New Year."

But not this year. Wales is at alert level four, meaning clubs, bars and restaurants are shut.

Normally, Dayna would be planning to have "the girls" over for a couple of drinks, then they'd all head off to a bar in the city centre. But it's never really the perfect night out.

"Everyone always really wants to go out for New Year's but no-one's ever actually that nice until it hits midnight."

Once everyone's stopped hugging and wishing each other a happy new year, "everything just goes downhill from there," she says.

"You're always being barged about in the queues and there's someone pushing in front of you all the time."

Plus there's the money.

"You come home with about £100 missing from your account. Probably because you've spent the majority having about three kebabs to survive the whole night."

On any other night of the year, a taxi home would usually cost her about £4. On New Year's Eve it's more like £30.

So this year, she's glad not to have the pressure of going out, finding an outfit or having to save up the cash.

Instead, she's looking forward to "a big fat takeaway".

"I haven't decided whether it'll be an Indian or a Chinese yet but I can't wait to just sit down, watch some Christmas films and slob out in my pyjamas.

"I'm glad just to see the back end of this year," she says.

Ed's looking forward to New Year's Eve this year - for the first time ever.

"I'm not someone who'd usually want to go out," he says.

He lives in Hampshire and normally heads to London or Southampton with about six mates.

But that's off the cards this year, with much of England under tier four restrictions and Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging people to see in the new year in their own homes.

NHS England's Prof Stephen Powis has said: "Covid loves a crowd, so please leave the parties for later in the year."

Staying in - and skipping the usual planning and spending - is fine by Ed.

"You've generally got to book where you're going beforehand, you've got to pay for that, and the idea really is to go in hard and get smashed.

"I just can't justify the money spent on it. If you get money given to you for Christmas, that money will just be gone by New Year so that's a big gripe for me."

He says the big night out in previous years has been hard to resist.

"It's not peer pressure, no -one's being forced to go out. But it's not wanting to miss out on the experience.

"There's the keen bean who always wants to go out and then one by one everyone gets the hype. It's sold as a big time of year and you want it to be memorable."

So he's looking forward to it being more laid back.

"Drinking, playing board games and having a laugh, something I'm much more into than anything else," he says.

"That's what it should be about, spending time with people that mean something to you instead of a bunch of random people you don't know".

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