Dismiss people joining novelty event (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
sack race
'novelty event' is the definition.
'sack race' can be an answer for 'event' (humorous sporting event). I'm not sure about the 'novelty' bit.
'dismiss people joining' is the wordplay.
'dismiss' becomes 'sack' (synonyms).
'people' becomes 'race' (people can mean a national group or race).
'joining' says to put letters next to each other.
'sack'+'race'='SACK-RACE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sack race that I've seen before include "Jumping contest" , "sports day event" , "Get rid of nation" , "athletics contest" , "jumping event" .)