Festival Attracts Polka Lovers to Remember Legendary Slavko Avsenik

The Avsenik family, which is behind the popular three-day festival, wants to give the village a breath of joy also at this period of mourning.

"Slavko Avsenik was a happy man. He used to say that anyone can write sad songs, but few can write happy ones. That's what his music is like," his son Gregor says.

The Avsenik Festival, which is organised in the town of some 1,000 residents for the third year, is expected to attract some 6,000 oompah music lovers until Sunday.

While for many Slovenians the festival is a must, there are also many visitors from Germany, Austria, parts of France, South Tyrol and the Netherlands.

The festival will feature more than 300 musicians from nine countries playing Avsenik music either as close to the original as possible or as covers.

When Avsenik aficionados hear the sounds of the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble, everyone listens with great attention, giving the musicians a big round of applause.

Nevertheless, a group of Slovenians who have come to the festival for the second time say no domestic or foreign ensemble could compete with the original Avseniks.

The festival will also celebrate this year's 60th anniversary of Avsenik's most popular song - Na Golici, or "Trompetenecho" in German, "Trumpet Echoes" in English.

This is Slavko Avsenik's most frequently played instrumental piece and is said to have been covered 600 times, ranging from classical to country, dixi and techno.

And since the Avsenik brothers have written around 1,100 pieces of music, no other song than Na Golici will be played more than once at the festival.

In fact, "we will hear some songs for the first time, as they were lost in studios in Klagenfurt or Hamburg, and have never been played live before", Slavko's grandson Sašo told the STA last evening.

The festival is quite a big organisational challenge for the small village, but welcomed also by local tourist workers.

Director of Radovljica Tourism Nataša Mikelj says the Avsenik legacy is an exceptional opportunity for tourism.

"Accommodation facilities get booked by itself at such events," she says adding: "The potential is immense."

Mikelj regretts that Slavko Avsenik did not receive the Prešeren Prize, the top national accolade for artists.

To remedy this injustice, she believes the authorities and the family should do all in their power for Begunje to get an interactive museum such as the one The Beatles have in Liverpool.

"The Avseniks are the most authentic and unique thing that Slovenia has. Nobody else has the polka king," she adds.

Slavko Avsenik (1929-2015) was an internationally-renowned accordion musician and composer who died at the age of 85 in early July.

He was born in Begunje na Gorenjskem, close to Lake Bled, a popular tourist spot in north-western Slovenia.

In 1953, he established The Avsenik Brothers Ensemble with his brother Vilko, which performed before millions and in thousands of concerts.

The group has sold over 30 million records. Some consider them a real trademark of Slovenia.