The annual Ukrainian Festival at St. Nicholas Church in Elmira Heights has grown exponentially. Our Bill Mich went to this year's 64th festival to find out what it is that continues to draw such a crowd.

ELMIRA HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- Sixty four years ago, the first Ukrainian Festival may have been a pretty small operation, but the lines and crowd that were on hand Sunday show that this celebration has come a long way.

"It's all throughout the community. People come from all over now to come to the festival. It has gotten a lot bigger, even throughout the last ten to twenty years that I have been here, it's gotten huge," said Jennifer Karski, one of the festival's media relations personnel.

The polka music brought crowds to the dance floor, the kid’s games were very popular but the authentic Ukrainian food trumped them all. The lines at any time throughout the day could be over 100 people long, so there had to be enough food to go around.

"They have been working all week and pinching 20,000 pierogies. They made over 3, 000 cabbage rolls. Hundreds of pounds of potatoes were peeled and cut," Karski said.

The potato pancakes were a hot commodity, and the pigs in a blanket were selling like hot cakes. But the pierogies are what this festival is known for. Whether people were eating them outside under the tent, or taking dozens of frozen ones home, 20,000 may not have been enough.

"The pierogies, the halupki, are as good as you are going to get in the Southern Tier of New York State. Not quite as good as my mother's, but they are excellent," said Erin resident Jack Oshetski.

The Ukrainian Festival continues to draw quite a crowd and treat Southern Tier residents to some authentic Ukrainian food.