As the Zamboni glazed the surface of the ice, students and families waited anxiously in the cold Greenberg Ice Pavilion for the cosmic skating to begin.

About 150 Penn State students, local families and their children came out to ice skate Saturday night.

Young children and older couples laughed and swayed to the beat of the music as the strobe light projected colorful shapes and figures on the walls.

Ben Wentz (junior-telecommunications), of Peacefeather, which played at the event, said that having a cosmic skate at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion would be a nice change of pace.

"I've been working at the rink for almost three years now. I started doing events for the ice rink a few years ago and wanted to have theme-skating events, so I thought cosmic skating would be interesting," Wentz said.

Wentz said he wanted to host an event that could satisfy all ages and did not involve drinking or going to bars.

"I wanted to stay away from the stereotypical nightlife and bar-driven social scene," Wentz said.

"The Penn State Ice Pavilion is an overlooked part of State College and a really interesting venue where we can play live music while people skate," he said.

State College resident Diane Leahey said she thought the cosmic skate was a great idea and a fun twist on ice skating.

"My boys play hockey, so we're up here all the time," Leahey said.

"They wanted to come hang out and try the cosmic skating," Leahey added.

Many students were glad for a nontraditional weekend experience.

Casey Sheerin (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) works at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion part-time and said he was looking forward to this skating event.

"The cosmic skating is a nice event because it brings the community and Penn State students together to enjoy a different kind of ice-skating," Sheerin said.

Britainy Lewis (freshman-music education) said she really liked how the cosmic skating and live music were integrated together.

"I ice skated once last semester, and it was really fun so when I heard about the cosmic skate, I really wanted to try it," Lewis said.

Matthew Scates (freshman-earth and mineral sciences) said even though it was only his second time ice skating, he would like to see more events like cosmic skating.

"I hadn't been ice skating in years, so I figured I would bring my girlfriend for an interesting change of pace," Scates said.

By posting fliers in many of the dorms, some on-campus buildings and in the Penn State Ice Pavilion, Wentz was able to advertise the skating event around campus.

"Promoting the event was all about making creative fliers with original and catchy art that people would notice," Wentz said.

"I was really pleased with the turnout of the cosmic skating event," Wentz added.