Minnesota’s Gibbon Polka Fest hosts thousands of polka-loving partiers in this high-spirited doc.

Three ballrooms, five days, thousands of polka-loving partiers. For better than 30 years, folks from all over the country have RV’ed to a tiny town in Minnesota for an epic event.  The Gibbon Polka Fest.  Yes indeed, polka is unfashionable and the crowds are dwindling, but, still, it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  Polka Time looks at this rural and Midwestern cultural tradition through the stories of some of its devotees, whose love of polka includes a zest for life that belies their age.  Along the way we’re treated to some mighty fine dancing, a romance or two, and, perhaps, the hottest new polka band around—Jon Dietz and the Twin Lakes Trio. But with attendance declining and the Gibbon Ballroom for sale, this zippy cultural documentary may also be capturing the twilight of a great American musical tradition and the end of an era. Yet there are glimmers of hope that polka is not dying out, as young bands and fans discover the joys of polka.

Polka Time

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Polka Time

Release Year: 2004

Duration: 30 min

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Related: Life & Culture, Music & Arts, ITVS, PBS

Three ballrooms, five days, thousands of polka-loving partiers. For better than 30 years, folks from all over the country have RV’ed to a tiny town in Minnesota for an epic event.  The Gibbon Polka Fest.  Yes indeed, polka is unfashionable and the crowds are dwindling, but, still, it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  Polka Time looks at this rural and Midwestern cultural tradition through the stories of some of its devotees, whose love of polka includes a zest for life that belies their age.  Along the way we’re treated to some mighty fine dancing, a romance or two, and, perhaps, the hottest new polka band around—Jon Dietz and the Twin Lakes Trio. But with attendance declining and the Gibbon Ballroom for sale, this zippy cultural documentary may also be capturing the twilight of a great American musical tradition and the end of an era. Yet there are glimmers of hope that polka is not dying out, as young bands and fans discover the joys of polka.

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