Highland Festival
Alma College is a co-sponsor and host of the annual Highland Festival in Alma, Mich. The College houses festival guests as events are held on the campus grounds.
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The festival began in 1968, when employees of the College decided that the town should have a festival to honor the Scottish heritage of the area. The Chamber of Commerce agreed.
Starting as a one-day event, it moved to a two-day event in 1972 as the festival added more and more competitions — and with those, more vendors and larger crowds.
Paula Moeggenborg, the executive assistant of the festival, says it is one of the few two-day festivals left of its kind.
“The mass bands — that’s everybody’s favorite part,” she says. “You never see 800 pipers and drummers together anywhere else.”
Events include dancing, piping and drumming competitions, a parade and a Ceilidh (Scottish party) featuring various Scottish bands.
Alma College students work at the festival in many areas, including helping guests staying in the residence halls.
