People gather in Kirtland for the last Slovenian Polka Sausage Festival, where Azman’s Quality Meats reigned supreme – News-Herald
The 18th Slovenian Sausage Festival celebration at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, where 1,300 people enjoyed savory sausages and danced all day to the 8 o’clock polka, had perfect weather.
Azman’s Quality Meats of Euclid scored a double win in the competition, earning both the Best of Fest Jury Award and the People’s Choice Award. Azman’s award-winning sausages will be served at the three-day Thanksgiving weekend Polka Dance Festival in Independence.
Fifty musicians and accordion players brought their talents to play indoors for the sausage festival dance, while dozens more brought instruments to play under the trees.
“Where I’m from, there’s nothing like this,” said Detroit bandleader Rob DeBlander, who performed with 20 others he brought with him from Michigan. “People love coming here because they know they’re going to have a great time.”
The tradition, including the Cleveland-style polka, is deeply rooted in the Slovenian community of Northeast Ohio.
Members of the Azman family, who have also won in previous years, have been butchers for over a century. Bill Azman’s sausages twice accompanied astronaut Sunita Williams on the rocket plane.
Slovenian sausage is a regional specialty prepared according to recipes brought to America by Slovenian immigrants. The sausages, known as Kranjska klobasa in Slovenia, are made from pork with an emphasis on garlic before being dried and smoked. More than 2,000 sausages were bought at the festival.
The event is hosted annually by the Euclid-based National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. His museum at 605 E. 222nd St. celebrates the musical genre with audio exhibits, events and its archive.
The musical style developed out of Cleveland’s post-World War II neighborhoods led by Frank Yankovic, considered America’s King of Polka.
More about the Hall of Fame: 216-261-3263; PolkaFame.com.