EAST LANSING - The 12th annual Great Lakes Folk Festival filled the streets of East Lansing with the scents of regional and ethnic food, demonstrations of traditional art, and displays of handmade goods.

The festival is known as an eclectic combination of cultural expressions through music and dance, material culture, foods, and children’s activities.

Over the course of the three-day event, dozens of performers took the stage. The music and dance program represented genres including Slovenian polka, Memphis Blues, Hawai’ian ukulele, and Cajun.

The Michigan State University Museum works year-round to create this fusion of cultures and traditions.

“It’s a little bit different each year, musically certainly," said Lora Helou, communications manager for the MSU Museum. "So, this year for the very first time we’re featuring Hmong music, sung poetry from Southeast Asia. We’ve got some swing dance and Lindy Hop that we’re doing over in the dance stage; we’ve never done that before. So, there are just kind of these opportunities to maybe see something a little bit different outside of our own experience and learn about another culture and another tradition," she said.

Helou estimated that more than 90,000 people attended this year’s Great Lakes Folk Festival.