All indicators are signaling that Saturday's Central PA 4th Fest drew a record-breaking crowd for State College's annual Independence Day celebration, helping to balance financial uncertainty facing the festival.

"The number of racers in the 4K, the lines at the concession stands, and the number of cars in the parking lot all tell us there was an enormous number of people here," said Bernie Keisling, executive director of 4th Fest. "Many more than we've ever seen."

The festival went "extremely well," Keisling added, due to the hard work of volunteers and overwhelming support from the community.

Although he is unsure of how much the festival drew financially, Keisling said he was sure that they "narrowed the gap" in the deficit from the lack of funding from local businesses.

"It was important that the community came out in droves to support the event," he said. "Ninety-five percent of the feedback is absolutely positive."

This year's 4th Fest provided a day full of entertainment for families, students and alumni with a multitude of exciting attractions including the highly acclaimed fireworks show.

The day kicked off with the Firecracker 4K, in which a record 909 runners participated to show their support for the festival, as all entry fees were used to benefit future 4th Fests.

David Moore, a 24-year-old State College resident, won the race with a time of 12:52.08.

The ages of runners spanned generations, and athletic groups like the Bellefonte Area High School wrestling team and Big Cat swimmers made the 2.5 mile run into a training exercise.

Greg Smithmyer (senior-architectural engineering) said he was excited for the opportunity to run the 4K.

"I'm from Bellefonte, so I've been coming to 4th Fest since I was little," he said, although he hadn't yet participated in the 4K until this year.

He added the race was part of a full day he had planned, which also included attending the State College Spikes game, eating food and watching the fireworks.

The anticipated graphical waterfall was started up during the 4K and captivated a crowd throughout the day. Water tumbling down from the massive structure morphed into images of stars, strips and the Penn State emblem.

"I think it's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Christen Heinly, Class 2009, said. "It's so cool how they make the pictures."

The waterfall also generated crowd participation, as it would spell out the answers to patriotic questions such as what the first American colony was or who was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.

"I just think it's amazing," 9-year-old Zinni Nebroski said, with her hair wet from standing so close to the 32-foot structure. "It's so big, and with all those controlled droplets -- wow."

Another major attraction that returned from last year was the military equipment display, with which kids could be seen climbing into Humvees and other vehicles throughout the day.

"The kids are amazed that we're letting them go in and out," Sgt. James Robb of Philipsburg said, adding he saw many familiar faces from last year.

Robb said the display is a great way to garner added support from the community and see the advances the military has made.

"I don't think they understood what was out there," he said. "The technology has overwhelmed them."

Other scheduled events included different demonstrations and performances from local bands such as Cootie Brown and Fat Girl Slim. The State College Area High School Jazz band also entertained the crowd with a jazzy instrumental version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Chris Summer's two small children danced around to the Jazz band's set.

"Fourth Fest is a great time for families to be together," said Summers, of State College.

Families also lined up at 6 p.m. for a free slice of the birthday cake provided by Giant Food Stores. Made with more than 240 pounds of cake mix, the cake sufficiently fed the crowd.

Pam Decker, a member of the 4th Fest Board of Directors, was not surprised by the cake line, which snaked around vendors and attractions in the carnival area of the festival.

It was Decker's job to hand out napkins and tell people the cake was "finger food" because of a lack of forks.

"We have to go with what's donated," she said. "It's an upgrade to have plates."

Decker added that everyone on the board is a hands-on volunteer, taking on many different jobs at the festival.

"I'll be hands-on cleaning garbage until two in the morning," she said.

The community could also enjoy a pyrotechnics demonstration that gave a look into the inner workings of the award-winning annual fireworks show to take place that night.

"The reason we started doing it is so the community would realize how much work goes into it," Deb Fohringer, the 4th Fest volunteer who ran the demonstrations said.

After seeing the demonstration, Fred Hyde from Mars, Pa., said he was going to look up a way to donate money to the pyrotechnics volunteers.

"Something like this event cannot be left to fade away," he said.