National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum

10/21/2026

Polka Stars Shine at the
62nd Thanksgiving Polka Weekend
Friday and Saturday, November 27 & 28, 2026
Holiday Inn Cleveland South, Independence, Ohio

10/21/2026

Polka Stars Shine at the
62nd Thanksgiving Polka Weekend
Friday and Saturday, November 27 & 28, 2026
Holiday Inn Cleveland South, Independence, Ohio

Roll out the barrel and the red carpet at the Thanksgiving Polka Weekend, featuring the Polka Music Awards. Polka music’s grandest event offers you two days of priceless memories with the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South, Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, 2026. Thrill to celebrity entertainers, including Grammy nominee Alex Meixner, Nashville’s Joey Miskulin, and Walter Ostanek, Canada’s Polka King. Enjoy the finest polka and waltz music in a ballroom setting.

The Polka Music Awards salute the newest names entering the Polka Hall of Fame. Spotlight bands are led by Jeff Pecon (OH), Hank Thunander (MN), Garrett Tatano (PA) and Ed Klancnik (TN). Cleveland’s Festa Band and the Polka Classics complete the schedule. You won’t want to miss the Button Box Jam Session and the Polka Mass. Stop by the Polka Pop-Up Shop for unique polka and nationality gifts and recordings.

Lifetime achievement awards in polka music go to the Texas-based bandleader and recording artist Alex Meixner; longtime Cleveland bassist and vocalist Hank Guzel Jr.; Nashville drummer and bandleader Ed Klancnik; Pittsburgh accordionist and bandleader Joe Grkman Jr.; and Pittsburgh accordionist, bandleader and tamburitza artist Mikey Dee. The musician fathers of Meixner, Guzel, Klancnik and Grkman were previous Polka Hall of Fame honorees.

The Board of Trustees add three new names to the Honor Roll: accordionist and music arranger Ken Novak; the late Cleveland bassist and bandleader Mary Bass Zivoder; and Lodge 603 of the Slovene National Benefit Society (SNPJ), known for its Slovenian Home in Samsula, Florida. Two All-time Greatest Hits were voted in: “Croatian Home Polka,” popularized by the Kenny Bass Orchestra, and “Oj, Maricka, Peglaj” (Mary’s Ironing), an old Slovenian folk favorite.

The Thanksgiving Polka Weekend started in 1963 when radio personality Tony Petkovsek invited top bands for a holiday dance fest. America’s Polka King Frank Yankovic headlined. The weekend soon became a tradition. The Polka Hall of Fame continues it today. The weekend is supported in part through a grant from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Save with a Polka Weekend Pass, only $45. Admission each day is $25. 18 and under free. Free parking. Order tickets from the Polka Hall of Fame, (216) 261-3263 or [email protected]. The Polka Hall of Fame is open Wednesday and Saturday, 10 to 2, at 605 East 222nd Street in Euclid, Ohio.

Reduced room rates are offered through the Holiday Inn, (216) 524-8050. Book your flight and car rental with Kollander Travel, (216) 692-1000. The Holiday Inn Cleveland South, 6001 Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio, near I-77 and I-480, 15 minutes from the airport and downtown.

10/01/2026

Remembering Sharon Staiduhar
Polka Hall of Fame Trustee
1942-2026

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum mourns the passing of our dear friend and fellow trustee, Sharon Staiduhar. A trustee since 2016, Sharon shared her love of polka through dedicated service, a positive outlook and a willingness to help.

Sharon’s involvement in the Cleveland-Style polka community began in the 1970s, when she managed the accounts of the famed Spotlight Lounge. She brought years of accounting experience and a talent for organizing events to the Hall of Fame. A member of our High Note Society, she believed that supporting the museum was a way to spread the joy of the music she loved.

That enthusiasm found a lasting expression in the Sweetheart Ball, Mother’s Day Dance and annual Harvest Dance, which Sharon created and promoted. These gatherings brought friends together and helped support the preservation of our musical heritage. Behind every successful dance are people who take care of countless details. Sharon was one of those people.

She was especially proud of her husband George Staiduhar’s musical career. With affection and humor, she called herself “Mrs. Mozart,” a nod to his well-known “Mozart’s Polka.”

We will miss Sharon’s helpful spirit, her enthusiasm and her friendship. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family and all who loved her. Her contributions will be remembered whenever the music brings our polka family together.

09/30/2026

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09/27/2026

09/14/2026

Raddell’s Sausage Shop and Azman Quality Meats
Earn Titles at Polka Hall of Fame Sausage Fest

Bill and Marie Azman of Euclid’s Azman Quality Meats accepted the People’s Choice Award and Raddell’s Sausage Shop, from the city’s Collinwood neighborhood, scored the Jury Award at the 22nd Slovenian Sausage Festival on Saturday, September 12, 2026, hosted by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum.

Drizzles did not dissuade nearly 1,000 hungry music-lovers from enjoying eight hours of polka music and savory sausages at the SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio. Fifty musicians and accordionists volunteered their services at the annual fund-raiser for the Hall of Fame and museum.

"I grew up in with Slovenian sausage and polka music, so I just had to be here,” said Kristijan Razpotnik, a musician and radio host from Orlando, Florida. “It’s a great event. I’m so glad I came up here to experience it.”

As winner of the People’s Choice, Azman’s prize sausages will be served at the Polka Hall of Fame’s two-day polka dance festival over Thanksgiving weekend, Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South in Independence , Ohio.

“The jury decides by blind tasting while each visitor receives a voting ticket to drop in the ballot box of the vendor of their favorite sausage,” explained Joe Valencic, Vice President of the Polka Hall of Fame. “Vendors are invited to observe the judging and the ballot count.”

The Slovenian sausage is a regional American specialty prepared from recipes brought to the United States by immigrants from Slovenia, where it is known as Kranjska klobasa. Sausages are made with pork, often accented with garlic, and then cured and smoked. More than 1,500 sausages were purchased at the event.

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates the city's variety of dance music with audio exhibits, historic photographs and original instruments. The music style evolved in the city’s Slovenian neighborhoods a century ago and became nationally popular in the decade after World War II, especially by America’s Polka King Frank Yankovic.

Each year, the Polka Hall of Fame’s nationwide membership nominates and vote for polka performers in different categories. The annual awards ceremony on Saturday, November 28, 2026, at the Grand Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Cleveland South, is the high point of the Polka Hall of Fame’s Thanksgiving weekend music festival.

The Polka Hall of Fame is located at 605 East 222nd Street in Euclid, Ohio, in the city’s historic former city hall. Open Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 to 2. For more information, check the website at PolkaFame.com or call (216) 621- FAME.

09/10/2026

In case you missed it. Julie Tabaj and Joe Valencic talk sausage and polka for the Slovenian Sausage Festival, Saturday, September 12, at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio, 12 to 8.

The 22nd Slovenian Sausage Festival is taking place on Saturday, Se...

08/12/2026

Polka legend Ron Sluga turned 90 in style with wife Patty and fifty fellow musicians at a special event at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio, on August 9, 2026.

He is the most accomplished banjo player and prominent side musician and vocalist on the Cleveland-style polka scene. He is best known for performing with America's Polka King Frankie Yankovic and other award-winning polka performers like Johnny Vadnal and Walter Ostanek. Ron was so popular as a young talent in the 1950s that he enjoyed his own national fan club.

Ron became the go-to banjoist in Ohio and Great Lakes polka circles. The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame inducted him in 2005. Ron still appears on stage.

08/12/2026

Sausages and Squeezeboxes!
Polka Hall of Fame 22nd Sausage Festival
Saturday, September 12, 2026
SNPJ Farm, Kirtland, Ohio

Klobasa is King at the 22nd annual Slovenian Sausage Festival, hosted by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. Celebrate Saturday, September 12, 2026, with eight hours of non-stop music from noon to 8:00 p.m. at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio. You can also vote for the vendor whose sausage you like best.

Fifty accordions squeeze to please on stage and at the jam sessions. Ten top Cleveland-Style bands and entertainers serve up peppy polkas and dreamy waltzes to help you burn up those extra calories. Bring your squeezebox or banjo and jam along. Sample a sausage from each maker and then choose your favorite. Pierogies, strudels and more await you between spins on the dance floor.

Each Slovenian sausage (kranjska klobasa) is made with cured and smoked pork with garlic and a savory blend of seasonings. The 2026 klobasa winners for the People’s Choice and the Jury Award are announced at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. 18 and under free. SNPJ Farm is at 10946 Heath Road in Kirtland, Ohio, off Chardon Road (Route 6), three miles east of Route 306 and six miles west of Route 44. Order from the Polka Hall of Fame, 605 East 222nd Street, Euclid, next to Euclid City Hall. Open Wednesday and Saturday from 9:00 to 2:00. Call (216) 261-FAME, toll-free (866) 66-POLKA. Online at [email protected].

07/24/2026

Polka Hall of Fame Members: It’s Time to Vote!
Mail your blue ballot by Saturday, September 19

It takes a polka village to send out your ballot for Lifetime Achievement Awards and Greatest All-Time Polka Hits. Your blue ballot is in the mail and ready for members to vote. Many thanks to our members and friends of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame for volunteering to stuff the ballots and instructions in envelopes to mail to members in 32 states, Canada and Europe.

Tony Fortuna, Cheryl Pittard, Kathy Skrajner, Tom Mroczka, Joe Valencic, Rosemary Koss, John Muhvic, Debbie Rietze, Dave Skrajner and Sharen Ott.