Dressed in a traditional Indian sari, State College resident Supriya Singh watched as the Urban Dance Troupe performed its routine for a crowd of about 200 at the Fourth Annual World Cultural Festival.

"This is one of the only times throughout the year that so many different cultures come together at one time," Singh, 25, said. "It is surreal to be dressed this way and be watching performances from student groups representing various nationalities. I wish this melting pot of ideas and actions occurred more often."

Aristides Nova, programming coordinator for the Paul Robeson Cultural Center, said the purpose of the event was to give students and members of the community a chance to learn about other cultures as well as their own.

"If people have the willingness to learn about other cultures, we invite them to come out to the event so they can learn from the cultural food, information tables and vendors from all over the world," Nova (senior-computer engineering) said.

Several campus departments, the Paul Robeson Cultural Center and International Student Services sponsored the event, which lured more than 2,000 students and community members to HUB Alumni Hall Friday night with the promises of music and free food.

Attendees could walk through rows of tables where they could sample traditional fare, view displays and play games prepared by more than 50 student groups and campus departments.

"All of the cultural foods are authentic this year," Nova said. "We used to have hot dogs and other more American foods, but not this year."

A long line of festival patrons waiting for the Tasting of the Diaspora, a row of tables with food from different countries, to commence wrapped around the perimeter of the hall.

Several students looked on hungrily for the tables to open.

"I have two classes that announced that [the World Cultural Festival] was going on," Shanna Wise (senior-Latin American studies) said. "I came to see all of the different organizations, pick up some new information and taste some of the free food."

Justin Ogden (sophomore-labor and employment relations), who went to high school in China, said he went to the festival to gain a better understanding of world cultures.

"Living out of the country really opened my eyes to what I can learn from every different country in the world," he said. "We as Americans have so much to learn from every other culture, but we don't take advantage of it, so I'm really glad students have come out for this."