MUSIC blares from the speakers, partygoers nibble on canapés and the hostess looks resplendent in a little black dress. Then, as the party gets into full swing, the cake is wheeled out. The lettering reads: “Delighted to be Divorced.”

Gone are the days when divorcees feel that they must wallow in post-split depression, scoffing chocolate bars and barely moving off the sofa. Now Britons are determined to celebrate their newfound single status. Divorce parties are in vogue and an industry has sprung up to cater for every new divorcée’s whims.

Kathryn Seal, a director at Seal Events, an event management company, said: “We have noticed an increase in demand for divorce parties. In the past year we have organised them and now advertise them alongside the traditional weddings and birthdays.”

Guests at divorce parties, which are usually held by women, can expect a racy night. There is rarely any sobbing into champagne. “Lots of alcohol is consumed with dancing and general bitching about men,” Ms Seal said. “One of the parties had handsome young men in tiny shorts serving canapés and drinks.”

Games are a must, according to organisers, with favourites including saucy charades, spicy dice (an X-rated version of the forfeit game) and piñata penis — a woman-only take on the traditional Mexican game. For this last activity, the uninitiated are taught to strike a hollow cardboard and tissue paper toy until it breaks and showers sweets. All around there will be banners and balloons declaring “Divorced and Happy” and cards with messages such as “It is better to have loved and lost than to have been married to a psycho your whole life”.

To reinforce the message, the DJ will play appropriate songs. Among the favourites are Tammy Wynette’s D.I.V.O.R.C.E, Ray Charles’s Hit the Road, Jack and Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

Some divorcees prefer to plan their own parties. Zoe Cantrill, a manager with Partybox.co.uk, a celebrations supply company, sells a host of divorce party accessories, including a plastic ball and chain and an inflatable toyboy in a tin.

“We started to sell divorce party supplies last year,” she said. “People told us they wanted to buy this sort of thing so we put them on our website. I think the number of British divorce parties will increase as people want to celebrate moving on.”

People who have parted acrimoniously are more likely to hold parties, said David Dawling, the entertainments manager at Out & Out Entertainment, an events organiser. “There was a lady whose husband refused to get divorced,” he said. “It went on for ages. Then, when it did go through, her friends threw a big party for her.”

Some people, however, are not content with balloons and cocktails called “sex on the beach”. They want to advertise their singledom in lights. The Great Northern Firework Company commissions set-piece displays. Divorcees decide what they want to say to the world and the company makes up the letters. Steven Button, the managing director, said: “There are certain things we won’t do with the letters. We have been asked to put the ex-partner’s name and a nasty description of what they are like in lights but we refused. Usually we do ‘Free’, ‘Free Again’ or ‘Free at Last’. Women and men have requested them.”

The popularity of divorce parties should grow, particularly if the number of British divorces keeps climbing. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that divorces granted in 2003 increased by nearly 4 per cent, to 166,700, the highest number since 1997.

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