ALUMNI FESTIVAL WEEKEND 2015

The Alumni Festival Weekend took place in St Andrews from Friday 17 - Sunday 19 April, 2015 and was a great success for all involved!

A unique collaboration between the Students' Association, the Athletic Union and Development, the festival was the first of its kind to be held in St Andrews during term-time, taking advantage of the huge variety of student activities that occur at St Andrews. Alumni from far and wide returned to the cobbled streets of St Andrews to relive their time as members of the many student societies and sports clubs, and taking the chance to interact with current students, staff, parents and friends of the University.

Sport & Societies

With the annual Rugby 7s, performances from the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, the Alumni Football Match, a cappella from The Alleycats, Postgraduate Society Whisky tasting, Evensong and Dinner for St Salvator's Chapel Choir alumni and a visit to the University Observatory among other events (see the full programme below), there were plenty of opportunities for alumni to join in the festivities. 

The Debating Society welcomed back six distinguished alumni speakers from careers such as teaching, banking and law to debate the merits of an Arts degree, which produced much hilarity throughout, while The St Andrews Economic Forum welcomed alumna Lesley Eccles (nee Tyrie, MA1996) back to speak on her experience as Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Fan Duel, a leading operator in the daily fantasy sports marketplace.

The weekend provided the opportunity for some of the other sports clubs, such as fencing, basketball, netball and racket sports to hold their first major alumni events. It is hoped that with such great buy in from the student groups, that the 2016 Alumni Festival Weekend will see even more clubs and societies enhancing the festival atmosphere by adding their own events to the programme.

 A Grand Re-Opening

The weekend also saw two University-hosted events - an early evening drinks reception for alumni where all were treated to a performance from The Alleycats, and the grand re-opening of St Salvator's Quadrangle. The Quad had been closed since graduation last year allowing for an extensive facelift - new paving stones, reshaped lawn, new flower beds and improved access to Upper & Lower College Hall. The project was completely funded by donations, with over 350 alumni, parents and friends taking up the opportunity to have a flagstone or stone bench inscribed with a message personal to them.

We were delighted to welcome back many of the donors to the Quad where over 150 people watched as Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson spoke on the Quad's history and cut the ceremonial ribbon, before inviting everyone to take a walk around the sun-lit quadrangle to locate their stones and take photos to remember their day back with us. 

View and book for our varied programme of events at the 2017 weekend! 

See our review of the 2016 Alumni Festival Weekend

To see some highlights of the 2015 weekend, visit our gallery!

+Pre-purchased tickets/registration required
^ Free event