Son without friends ditching European social gathering (5)
I believe the answer is:
salon
'social gathering' is the definition.
(salon can mean a get-together)
'son without friends ditching european' is the wordplay.
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'without friends' becomes 'alone' (I've seen this before).
'ditching' is a deletion indicator.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'alone' with 'e' taken away is 'alon'.
's'+'alon'='SALON'
(Other definitions for salon that I've seen before include "beautician's premises" , "Beauty parlour" , "Room where beautician works" , "where cuts are commonplace" , "Hairdresser's shop" .)