What a great music festival this is! The weather was beautiful this year with sunny and warm weather, and the people came out in droves. There was a full lineup of some of the best musicians in the polka world.
Some of the bands: On Friday July 12 - Ron Likovic Band with his very talented sons T.J. Likovi on button box and R.J. Likovic on drums, Klancnik & Friends, Polka Bros, and Patty C. & the Guys; On Saturday July 13 - Joe Grkman Band, Frank Stanger, Bill Bevec Band, Karl Lukitsch, Jack Tady, Don Wojtila, Veseli Godci, Magic Buttons, Western PA Button Box Club, Fairport Jammers, KTB, and our band the Polka Play Mates; On Sunday July 14 - Dick Tady, Eddie Rodick Orchestra, Rob Deblander & Polka Classics, Matt Frank Trio, Veseli Fantje with the Valencic Brothers and friends, Button Box Divas, Matt Sepesy, Ron Pivovar, and the Mahoning Valley Button Box Club - and many more.
There were performances by special ethnic dance groups and bands - and all-day jamming in the jam tent from noon to midnight. As always there is music going in five venues - the outside tent, the beautifully air-conditioned Alpine Room, the gostilna (the bar room), the newer open-air pavilion, and the jam tent. They now feature a Crafters' Bazaar for those who like to shop, and you can also go swimming in the large swimming pools. This festival also features the annual Miss SNPJ Pageant and I always take a stroll through the Heritage Museum and Gift Shop. There is lots of good food available (some new food vendors this year that we really enjoyed) and very reasonable refreshment prices, so what's not to love.
But you know what the best part is? Seeing all my wonderful friends who come from all over the U.S. and Ontario. This is when I get to meet friends from almost every state in the Union and from Canada who come just for this festival every year. And I also touch base with my cohorts, the Florida Snowbird Polka Band, the musicians and spouses who are my polka family in Florida. We party with friends from Michigan who bring their RV's to the campsite, and friends from Ohio who have summer mobile homes there. And did I mention my great Canadian polka family that I travel with - Cecile & Andy Miinch and Beth & Dennis Uhlik. What a great time!
This is one of the best music festivals you will ever have the privilege of attending. And the price is right - a three-day pass costs only $30. You can't even go to an evening concert for that amount of money! So look for it every year. Their website would have all the info - www.SNPJ.org
Some of the bands: On Friday July 12 - Ron Likovic Band with his very talented sons T.J. Likovi on button box and R.J. Likovic on drums, Klancnik & Friends, Polka Bros, and Patty C. & the Guys; On Saturday July 13 - Joe Grkman Band, Frank Stanger, Bill Bevec Band, Karl Lukitsch, Jack Tady, Don Wojtila, Veseli Godci, Magic Buttons, Western PA Button Box Club, Fairport Jammers, KTB, and our band the Polka Play Mates; On Sunday July 14 - Dick Tady, Eddie Rodick Orchestra, Rob Deblander & Polka Classics, Matt Frank Trio, Veseli Fantje with the Valencic Brothers and friends, Button Box Divas, Matt Sepesy, Ron Pivovar, and the Mahoning Valley Button Box Club - and many more.
There were performances by special ethnic dance groups and bands - and all-day jamming in the jam tent from noon to midnight. As always there is music going in five venues - the outside tent, the beautifully air-conditioned Alpine Room, the gostilna (the bar room), the newer open-air pavilion, and the jam tent. They now feature a Crafters' Bazaar for those who like to shop, and you can also go swimming in the large swimming pools. This festival also features the annual Miss SNPJ Pageant and I always take a stroll through the Heritage Museum and Gift Shop. There is lots of good food available (some new food vendors this year that we really enjoyed) and very reasonable refreshment prices, so what's not to love.
But you know what the best part is? Seeing all my wonderful friends who come from all over the U.S. and Ontario. This is when I get to meet friends from almost every state in the Union and from Canada who come just for this festival every year. And I also touch base with my cohorts, the Florida Snowbird Polka Band, the musicians and spouses who are my polka family in Florida. We party with friends from Michigan who bring their RV's to the campsite, and friends from Ohio who have summer mobile homes there. And did I mention my great Canadian polka family that I travel with - Cecile & Andy Miinch and Beth & Dennis Uhlik. What a great time!
This is one of the best music festivals you will ever have the privilege of attending. And the price is right - a three-day pass costs only $30. You can't even go to an evening concert for that amount of money! So look for it every year. Their website would have all the info - www.SNPJ.org
The SNPJ Recreation Center situated in Pennsylvania, near the city of Youngstown Ohio, has been putting on this music festival for over thirty years. People come from all over North America, some to the campgrounds in RV's & tents, some to the cabins and trailer park, many with their children and grandchildren. It is a wonderful and exciting time to renew old friendships and make new ones.
This is a video from Slovenefest 2014: Don Wojtila Orchestra with a medley of polka songs - Brothers & Sisters, Marry Me oh Marry Me, I Saw a Rainbow, Good Time Polkas, and of course THE EGG ROLL SONG! Do we have fun at Slovenefest or what? Yes, we are in the crowd somewhere.
2010 - our first year playing the Gostilna
Slovenefest Pictures
