A farewell party now starting to stir (6)

I believe the answer is:

awaken

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'to stir' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'a farewell party now starting' is the wordplay.
'farewell party' becomes 'wake' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'farewell' bit.).
'starting' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'now' is 'n'.
'a'+'wake'+'n'='AWAKEN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for awaken that I've seen before include "Emerge from sleep" , "Come alive" , "Rouse from sleep" , "Cause to remember" , "Stir" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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