For three days, the HUB Ballroom was filled with artifacts and other exhibits meant to display Slavic culture.

The 13th annual Penn State Slavic Folk Festival, sponsored by the Department of Slavic Languages and Kappa Kappa Chapter of Dobro Slovo, the national Slavic studies honor society, was held last weekend in the HUB Ballroom.

The festival attempted to "showcase cultural development and introduce students to cultural diversity in the state," said festival coordinator Lorraine Kapitanoff.

Pennsylvania has one of the highest slavic populations in the United States, said Vladimir de Lissovoy, an exhibitor and former professor in the College of Health and Human Development.

Some ethnic groups represented at the festival included Byelorussian, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Carpatho-Rusyn and Polish, Kapitanoff said.

On Friday, the festival featured special children's programs, live performances from the Penn State Internationale Dancers, and a polka and waltz contest.

During the weekend, attendees could eat from an ethnic snack bar, look at folk art displays and watch demonstrations such as the art of Ukrainian easter egg coloring.

Many exhibitors came from throughout Pennsylvania as well as New Jersey, New York and Canada. Some exhibits were valuable including the small hand-painted palekh boxes, which can cost thousands of dollars, de Lissovoy said.

Although Kapitanoff could not give a number of those attending, she said the turnout was good.

Many local school children came Friday, and Saturday was "jammed," she said. Kapitanoff said she was also pleased with the number of Penn State students who attended.

Jesse Beam (senior-civil engineering) and Heather Close (junior-biology) were walking by the HUB when they stopped to see what was happenning. Beam and Close said they were just "checking out" the festival which was "pretty neat."

Marci Passell (junior-Russian) worked at the ethnic snack bar during the festival and enjoyed the sweet food. She thought the festival was "great and the arts and crafts were beautiful."