Polka is still a popular genre of folk music in many European countries and is performed by folk artists in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Slovakia.

Folk music of Polka style appeared in written music about 1800.

In the United states, Polka is promoted by the International Polka Association based in Chicago, which works to preserve the cultural heritage of polka music and to honor its musicians through the Polka Hall of Fame.

Polka Varieties was an hour-long television program of polka music originating from Cleveland, Ohio.

* Their live music video, " The Denton Polka ", appears on the " Bohemia Rising DVD Compilation " ( released in 2009 ), a collection of documentary shorts directed by Christopher Largen exploring rebellion and resistance to corporate demolition in their hometown of Denton, Texas.

Polka Paraguaya, which adopted its name from the European dance, is the most popular type of music and has different versions ( including the galopa, the krye ’ ÿ and the canción Paraguaya, or " Paraguayan song ").

The annual National Polka Festival which features Czech cuisine, polka music, dancing, and a parade is held on Memorial Day weekend.

Polka music is provided by the Oom Pas and Mas, composed of lederhosen-wearing local musicians.

Central to the evolution of early Tejano music was the blend of traditional forms such as the Corrido and Mariachi, and Continental European styles, such as Polka, introduced by German and Czech settlers in the late 19th century.

Sponsored by Autolite, the program used opening theme music by the Polka Dots, a harmonica group.

* Cleveland television station WEWS-TV launches Polka Varieties, a regular Sunday-afternoon, hour-long program devoted to polka music ; Frank Yankovic led the original band to perform on the show.

It has been used in a number of films and has been quoted or referred to in literature and music, including in the poem / song " Polka " from Façade by Edith Sitwell and William Walton.

A large influx of Polish immigrants into Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought Polka music with them ; this music evolved into several local styles.

Polka is a dance in duple time that became popular across Europe in the 19th century and spread across the world, influencing music from Mexico to Japan.

Another program seen throughout the country was Polka Varieties, an hour-long program of polka music that ran locally on Sunday afternoons from 1 p. m. to 2 p. m. from 1956 into the early 1980s, and was syndicated during its later years to 30 television markets.

He wrote many waltzes, including: Sphären-Klänge ( Music of the Spheres ), Delirien ( Deliriums ), Transaktionen ( Transactions ), Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb ' und Lust ( My Character is Love and Joy ), and Dorfschwalben aus Österreich ( Village Swallows from Austria ), polkas, most famously the Pizzicato Polka with his brother Johann, quadrilles, and other dance music.

The music for the level, titled Eat Your Veggies and originally composed by Bobby Prince for use in Keen Dreams, is also commonly associated with the Dopefish and has inspired some spin-offs compositions including Fish Polka and Dope Jaws by former 3D Realms Music and Sound Director Lee Jackson.

Norteño or Norteña music, however, owes its distinctive sound to the Mexican and Spanish oral and musical traditions, blended with guitar, accordion and brass ( based on the instrumentation used in military brass bands ), woven and spun unto the wholly Teutonic tempos of Polka and Waltz.

Most of the pirate radio stations air the so called " pirate music ", traditional Dutch folk music combined with classic English, German and Polka.

Polka dancing enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after World War II, when many Polish refugees moved to the US, adopting this Bohemian style as a cultural dance.

Strauss also drew themes from the stage work and set them to individual pieces of which Lagunen Walzer Lagoon Waltz op. 411 and Die Tauben von San Marco Polka The Pigeons of San Marco op. 414 enjoyed enduring popularity.

The Polka Hall of Fame is located in Chicago, and is home to the International Polka Association which hosts a yearly convention.

That same year, Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push released the " Dingus Day in Buffalo Polka " to recognize Buffalo's time-honored traditions.

Polka has a long history in the United States, and the city of Chicago, among others, had produced numerous innovations in the genre.

Walter Ostanek is a member of Canada's Walk of Fame as well as the Polka Halls of Fame in Cleveland and Chicago.

During the middle of 2002, Monteiro launched the album " Swinging in Chicago " which featured tracks such as Polka Dots and Moonbeams and I'm Confessin ' That I Love You.

His most memorable songs include " We're All Crazy In Chicago " ( a local Top Ten hit ), " Hey Der Milwaukee Polka ", and " The Moo-Moo Song " ( based on an actual event in the 1980s when a local attempted to make love to a cow in the Lincoln Park Zoo ).

Wells Fargo Festplatz: Jolly Joe Timmer, Lucky 7, Henry & The Versa Js, Jimmy Sturr Orchestra, Frank Viele and the Manhattan Project, Eddie Forman Orchestra, Polka Country Musicians, Philadelphia Funk Authority, Joe Weber Band, Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push, The Uptown Band, Copper Box, Mike Surratt & The Continentals, UUU, Westallgaier, The Jumpers Orchestra, The Fabulous Greaseband, John Stevens Doubleshot, The Adlers, John Stanky and the Coalminers, Funky Fontana, Joseph Kroboth Band, Bud Hundeski & The Corsairs, HALA Espectacular, La Excelencia, Walt Groller Orchestra, Rob Stonebeck Band, and Alex Meixner Band

In the late 1990s, TVOntario capitalized on the success of Polkaroo by placing him and the other animal characters, now also actors dressed in costumes, in a new series, Polka Dot Shorts, which also had its own catchphrase moment, as each episode included the unlikely discovery of a pair of polka dot shorts, leading to the exchange:

The late 1860s would see the " Lotta Polka " and " Lotta Gallup " as quite the rage in America.

Polka dots first became common on clothing in the late nineteenth century in the United Kingdom.

Another hit from the 1940s was " Guitar Polka ", which entered Billboard's list as the " Most Played Juke Box Folk Record " for 16 weeks running in 1946.

Some of the more popular members included vocalist Harry Babbitt, cornetist Merwyn Bogue ( aka Ish Kabibble ), trombonist Bruce King, saxophonist Jack Martin ( who sang lead vocal on the number one hit, " Strip Polka "), Ginny Simms ( who had her own successful acting and singing career after leaving Kyser ’ s band ), Sully Mason, Mike Douglas ( years before he became a popular TV talk show host ) and Georgia Carroll.

Her television debut was as a host of the Canadian children's show Polka Dot Door after graduating from Ryerson University in 1979.

214 ( also known as " Trish Trash Polka ") is a polka written by Johann Strauss II in 1858 after a successful tour of Russia where he performed in the summer concert season at Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg.

Just five years after the colliery opened, however, there was an explosion on August 15, 1848, near the Polka East shaft, which killed 14 miners.

The PA system plays Beer Barrel Polka (" roll out the barrel ") whenever the beer batter comes to the plate and after every strike during the beer batter's at-bat ( through the first six innings ).

Among some of the better known polka ( and waltzes ) artists and composers include Happy Louie and Julie, Frankie Yankovic, Walter Ostanek ( Canada ), Verne Meisner, Mike Schneider, Tom Brusky, Walt Groller, Joey Miskulin, Jimmy Sturr, Kyle Redman Polka Band, and ( in combination with more modern styles ) " Weird Al " Yankovic ( no known relation to Frankie Yankovic ) and The Our Gang Orchestra.

Walter Ostanek, CM ( born Ladislav Walter Ostanek 20 April 1935 Duparquet, Quebec, Canada ), is known as Canada's Polka King.

* Grammy Awards: list of Walter Ostanek's Best Polka Album wins

* Offers live musical entertainment with Polka Legend Walter Ostanek performing daily during the peak season.