49th annual Alma Highland Festival and Games brings community together, Scottish or not
ALMA, MI — Andi Whitmore doesn't have a lick of Scottish blood in her, but has been accepted into the culture by those who do — which is what she said is the purpose of the Alma Highland Festival and Games.
"That's the idea. You're bringing people in, celebrating together and sharing in the history of all these Scottish people," she said. "They are very proud of what they represent and so I am proud of what they have to represent."
The 49th annual Alma Highland Festival and Games began Friday and continued Saturday with a nearly 100 unit parade down Superior Street in the city's downtown. Spectators and performers then processed into Alma College's football stadium, Bahlke Field, for the opening ceremony. It included Scottish dances and the playing of bagpipes by some of the United States' oldest pipe bands, including the 100-year-old Flint Scottish Pipe Band.
An Alma native and Alma College alumnae Whitmore, 2016 Highland Festival and Games president, said planning begins in September. The process requires participation from hundreds of planners, including board members, chairs people and other volunteers.
Wearing a Michigan tartan and looking at the crowd of spectators packing the grand stand at Bahlke Field, Whitmore said she was ecstatic to finally share the festival with the community.
"My family is here and I get to share it with them," she said. "It's all about this community coming together and that's my favorite part."
The festival's queen in 2006, Whitmore said "once they rope you in, you never leave."
"That's why this is definitely a family thing. There's a number of families who volunteer that their parents were apart of (the festival) and their grandparents were apart of it and it's trickled down as a tradition," she said.
The festival continues Sunday. The annual Highland Dance is at 10 a.m. and the closing ceremony is slated for 5:30 p.m. held at Bahlke Field.
