With colorful dress, dancing, food and music, the Norman Public Library celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month with its annual Hispanic Cultural Festival.

People munched on free chips and pie as they shopped the homemade crafts at the temporary mercado [marketplace] in the library, which was filled with the aroma of tamales and rice.

The mercado featured tables laden with jewelry, potholders and hair accessories.

One table held jewelry made by two international OU students from Venezuela. Industrial engineering senior Andrea Viacaba and geophysics senior Yoryenys Del Moro created the jewelry to make a little extra money. However, at the Hispanic festival, Del Moro and Viacaba got to share more than just their jewelry.

“We are selling, but we’re also talking and sharing about our culture,” Viacaba said. “Sometimes people don’t have the right idea of what Hispanic means and here we can clarify.”

Del Moro said she liked the idea of an integrated festival with traditional Hispanic food, goods, music, and activities for kids. But she thought it was important to express the differences between the many different Hispanic cultures.

“We all speak the same language but [the cultures] are all different,” Del Moro said. “We can explain the differences of one culture from the other.”

Along with food and merchandise, the festival featured a presentation on Cuban music and salsa dancing, which was a crowd favorite. Everyone was invited to take salsa dancing lessons and watch the traditional flamenco dancing show put on by Shannon Calderon-Primeau.

OU also got involved in the festivities. Claudia Morales, assistant director for Student Life, provided information about the numerous opportunities available to Hispanic students at OU.

The Hispanic Cultural Festival began six years ago as a way to introduce the Spanish-language collection at the library, and it has evolved into a way for people to learn more about Hispanic culture, said Gary Kramer, a library spokesman.

“We’re creating a safe, neutral environment where you can sample another culture,” Kramer said. “You can come to the library, where everyone is welcome.”

The festival, which attracts between 2,000 and 3,000 every year, is one of the library’s largest events, Kramer said.

“The festival allows us to bring people to the library for a party and then we can introduce them to the library,” said Kramer.

The library has a growing Spanish-language collection and offers classes in English as

a second language and Spanish as a second language. Soon it will offer computer classes in Spanish.

Kramer said he believes the library’s Spanish-language programs and events like the Hispanic Cultural Festival are important because of Norman’s rapidly-growing Hispanic population.

“The Hispanic Festival is probably the biggest party [at the library],” Kramer said. “It’s just part of the fabric of the community now.”