They are going to come here for the celebration. AND,
They are to come here for the celebration.
Is there any difference?
I am clear with the phrase "going to" with other things (such as going to happen etc.) But if ultimately it's coming, why going and then coming! To me, going to come seemed redundant but then it's very very popular with native speakers. COCA gives thousands of such results.
Answer
This particular usage of going to is something that can be easily mistaken to be grammatically incorrect because of the seemingly contrasting meaning of "go" & "come".
However if you look at the definition of "going to" here, here, here or here you will realize that meaning of "going to" has nothing to do with the meaning of "go".
"Going to" is a grammatical construct that refers to some planned actions in the future. It is somewhat similar (though not exactly) in meaning to "plan to".
So They are going to come here can be inferred as they plan to come here.
General structure of the sentence using "going to" is:
Subject + forms of be(is, was etc) + going to + infinitive verb.
So a sentence like "I am going to come" is grammatically correct, although a little awkward to say!!
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