Cranberry Township resident Chris Bogdon performs with his band, Polka Country Musicians. The International Polka Association Festival and Convention will take place in Cranberry Township from Friday through Sunday.

For the third year, Cranberry Township will host the International Polka Association Festival and Convention from Friday, Sept. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 3.

Chris Bogdon, vice president of the Chicago-based association, said the festival’s move to Butler County in 2020 proved an ideal location.

“A couple of years ago, we wanted to create a festival with both Polish bands and Slovenian bands,” he said. “Here, there’s a massive population of both the Slovenian bands and the Slovenian heritage and the Polish bands and the Polish heritage.”

At the time, Bogdon said the association was considering either a region in Wisconsin or Western Pennsylvania for the festival. Prior to 2020, the festival was held in Buffalo, N.Y.

“So two years ago, I made the proposition that we move it to Western Pennsylvania,” said Bogdon, a resident of Cranberry. “And this is going to be the third year that it’s going to be held at the DoubleTree (by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh-Cranberry).”

The location has a four-year contract with the International Polka Association, according to Bogdon, to be renegotiated after the 2024 festival.

“We’re probably getting over a thousand people from outside Cranberry Township coming in for the weekend,” he said. “The majority are coming Thursday and probably going to leave Tuesday — there’s a really good crowd coming up again.”

Bogdon said the area was valued not just for its ethnic diversity but for its attractions as well.

“It’s been great; people love Cranberry — people love the entire area — because there’s so much stuff to do,” he said. “There’s restaurants, bars, so when you’re not going to a polka dance, you could go eat somewhere.

“It’s just a very good region for a lot of this stuff, so that’s why we brought it here.”

Sponsored by the International Polka Association, Bogdon said the weekend event is organized with one goal in mind.

“It’s a nonprofit organization out of Chicago that promotes polka music across the country,” he said.

According to Bogdon, polka is an ethnic dance that is uniquely European.

“Every European country has a polka dance,” he said. “Whether it be Italy, whether it be Poland, whether it be France.”

The festival will officially kick off Thursday, Aug. 31, with a Polka Party at the Cranberry Elks Lodge, 20720 Route 19, Cranberry Township. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event will feature the Alex Meixner Band from 7 to 10 p.m.

“I can’t rave enough about this guy, Alex Meixner,” Bogdon said.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Cranberry Elks Lodge.

The festival proper will then begin at 1 p.m. Friday carrying on until 1 a.m. Sunday.

“The festival features kind of all of the top bands around the country,” Bogdon said.

The festival will feature over 10 polka bands, pool parties and a “Polka Mass,” open to the public, on Sunday.

“It’s basically a Catholic Mass, but all the music is done by a polka band,” Bogdon said.

The festival also will induct a new polka artist into the association’s hall of fame in Chicago, he said.

The weekend event is open to all ages and abilities, according to Bogdon, with a variety of opportunities to learn and participate throughout the weekend.

For more information on the festival or to purchase tickets, visit the association’s website at ipapolkas.com.

“It’s one of the few places that you have this entire population getting together and having fun,” he said. “Whether it be a 16-year-old in high school or an 80-year-old retired person, they’re all doing the same thing and having fun.

“That’s really what the key is.”