Folks gather in Kirtland for latest polka-powered Slovenian Sausage Festival, where Azman's Quality Meats reigned

Janet Podolak, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio
·2 min read

Sep. 16—Perfect weather framed the celebration on Sept. 14 of the 18th annual Slovenian Sausage Festival at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, where 1,300 people enjoyed savory sausages and danced the day away to eight hours of polka music.

Azman's Quality Meats of Euclid scored a twin win in the competition, earning both the Best of Fest Jury Award and People Choice honors. Azman's prize sausages will be served at the Polka Hall of Fame's three-day Thanksgiving Weekend Dance Festival in Independence.

Fifty musicians and accordion players brought their talents to play indoors for dancing at the sausage festival, while several dozen more brought instruments to jam under the trees.

"There's nothing like this where I come from," said Detroit-area bandleader Rob DeBlander, who performed along with 20 others he brought with him from Michigan. "People love coming here because they know they'll have a great time."

Tradition, including that of Cleveland-style polka, is deeply rooted in the Northeast Ohio Slovenian community.

Intricate details of a button box accordion can be seen up close. (Janet Podolak ??

Azman family members, who have also won the competition in other years, have been butchers for more than a century. Bill Azman's sausages twice accompanied astronaut Sunita Williams on the space shuttle.

The Slovenian sausage is a regional specialty prepared from recipes brought to America by Slovenian immigrants. Known as Kranjska klobasa in Slovenia, the sausages are made with pork accented with garlic before being cured and smoked. More than 2,000 sausages were purchased at the festival.

The event is hosted annually by the Euclid-based National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. Its museum, at 605 E. 222nd St., celebrates the musical genre with audio exhibits, events and its archive.

The music style evolved from Cleveland's neighborhoods after World War War II led by Frank Yankovic, who is considered America's Polka King.

Learn more about the hall of fame: 216-261-3263; PolkaFame.com.