POLKA

"OOMPA OOMPA, DON'T YAH KNOW?"

Most Wisconsinites dance to and love the Polka. It is the official music of Wisconsin. It is a great past time that goes hand in hand with our lifestyle. Some of our best events involve it and we have many radio stations committed exclusively to broadcasting it. It is the old world tradition that has transcended time.

girls-beer[1].jpg With the influx of European immigrants it is not surprising that their music would follow and be passed on to their American born generations. Polka is enjoyed today in dance halls, almost all the European Fests, at weddings, and even at special Catholic & Lutheran polka Sunday services across Wisconsin.

It is the pulsating sound that keeps the parties here in Wisconsin moving. It is unlike anything you will experience elsewhere. Many mock it, but after a few steins of ale and an observation, it grows on you. You become absorbed in the culture and find yourself laughing and bobbing your head to the sound.

There are many events throughout the state and throughout the year that seem to thrive on the wonderful sound of polka. New Glarus, in South Central Wisconsin has a great PolkaFest (Anual Roger Bright Memorial Polka Fest) in the summer and inevitably any of the "German or European type Fests" traditionally held in the Fall tend to focus their musical tastes to it as well

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SOME OF THE POLKA AFFAIRS IN WISCONSIN:

German Fest West Bend (August)
Oktoberfest Glendale (September)
Pulaski Polka Days Pulaski (July)
PolkaFest New Glarus (July) (Also where the picture of the girls above came from!)
Ellsworth Polkafest Ellsworth (July)
Gemuetlichkeit Days Jefferson (September)
German Fest Milwaukee (July)
West Allis Concerts at Honey Creek Park West Allis (Summer)
Hiawatha Ballroom Sturtevant (Sunday Afternoons)
Ladysmith's Northwoods Polkafest Ladysmith (June)
Merryland Polkafest Rosholt (August)
Oktoberfest Chippewa Falls (September)
Cesky Den Hillsboro (June)
Polish Fest Milwaukee (June)
CFC Festivals Southeastern Wisconsin (Summer)
Wisconsin Dells Polish Fest (September)

SOME OF THE GREAT POLKA RADIO SHOWS & STATIONS:

WXPR Rhinelander
WTMB-FM Weekend Polka Party Tomah
WOFM/WIZD Cool FM Polkafest Wausau
WDEZ Polka Jamboree Wausau
WTKM Hartford
Polkas From the Barn Webcast - Wausau, WI

In Wisconsin, a girl gets major points if she has great legs and can play the accordion! I love this picture from Summerfest, because it exemplifies the spirit of the Cheesehead. Look at the way the crowd is into this solo! God bless the players of the Polka!

If you are not a Cheesehead you will have a hard time buying into this one, but there are actually numerous Polka Church Services in some of the faiths around this state! I kid you not! Truly, God blesses Polka!