Culture

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum mourns the passing of Chairman Emeritus and co-founder Tony Petkovsek. Tony brought new life to the Cleveland-Style Polka. Just when polka music seemed played out, young Tony arrived on the scene in 1961 with a daily radio show that revived America’s good-time sound. He inspired new and classic bands to record albums. His polka tours brought attention to Slovenia and took the happy music around the world. Tony’s Thanksgiving polka weekends still attract a thousand fans. His music events and causes made him an important community leader.

On Wednesday, February 6 Slovenian Embassy in Washington DC organized a reception with a presentation of the original Prešeren manuscripts and the exhibition Prešeren in popular music.

Matevž Langus was destined to follow in the footsteps of his family and become a blacksmith, but his passion for art ultimately took him to Vienna and Rome, and he became one of the most prolific late Baroque painters in the Slovenian Lands.

On Saturday, August 11, over 70 members from all of Folklorna Skupina Kres’s age groups performed at the Slovenska Pristava.  Hundreds of guests attended the event on what a beautiful summer day with barely a cloud in the sky.  The performance included several lively stylized polkas, a traditional folklore number from the region of Premurkje, a toe-tapping swing number and ...

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum and the Slovenian Society Home teamed up and presented The 36th Super Button Box Bash on April 8. Hundreds gathered at the Slovenian Society Home in Euclid for the annual event that showcased music from performers all across the country. Polka songs resonated throughout the upper ballroom and lower hall. The bash was a daylong ...

Based on a true story: 2009, Slovenia, Alija is an immigrant miner. Due to the crisis, miners are losing jobs. Alija is happy when he is sent to work in an abandoned mine, to check if it is empty. In the mine, he finds hidden proof of post-WW2 crimes. He is threatened to stop digging, but he decides to continue, ...

Late each winter, on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, during the Carnival season, strange creatures fill the streets of Ptuj, Slovenia’s oldest town. The wool-clad, horned creatures – known as “kurenti” or “korenti” — mark the arrival of spring, and they do it by making as much noise as possible with cowbells hanging from their belts. “Kurenti” are ancient; like ...

Magda Pišotek, Marija Penca and Draga Gelt OAM, authors of a new book titled The Power of Words have been tireless cultural workers and teachers within the Slovenian Community in Victoria for over 4 decades. This book with over 500 pages highlights the many cultural programs prepared by the three authors over the past 40 plus years, celebrating many events, ...

Door-to-door rounds of the Kurent have been put on the representative list of intangible cultural heritage across the world, came the announcement from South Korea. “We’re honoured that door-to-door rounds of the Kurent have become part of world-renowned treasures by making it on UNESCO’s list,” notes the mayor of Ptuj Miran Senčar. South Korea is hosting the 12th annual session ...

Even though he lived in the 19th century, Janez Bleiweis was a true Renaissance Man. Highly educated, he left a lasting mark as a physician, journalist, and a politician. He founded an influential political newspaper, and helped to bring a sense of Slovenian national consciousness to his readers. Bleiweis was born into a privileged family in 1808. Because of his ...