28th annual Slovenfest to begin 3-day run Friday

Dancing, ethnic food, polka music and Slovenian culture are on the weekend agenda.

staff report

SNPJ, Pa. — The Slovene National Benefit Society, better known by its Slovenian initials SNPJ, is in the midst of its 105th anniversary year.

To celebrate, SNPJ will host its 28th annual Slovenfest Friday through July 12 at the SNPJ Recreation Center in Lawrence County.

Slovenfest, dubbed “the Celebration of Everything Slovenian,” will feature three days of continuous music performed by the region’s top polka bands.

American-Slovenians from across the country will gather to dance, enjoy ethnic food, polka music and Slovenian culture.

This year’s Slovenfest will be on the SNPJ Recreation Center grounds, 270 Martin Road, Enon Valley, where performances will be staged in four venues — two outdoor stages, the indoor Gostilna, or clubroom, and the air-conditioned Alpine Room inside the recreation center’s main building.

Weekend activities include the 53rd Miss SNPJ Pageant, which begins at noon Friday, and a variety of children’s entertainment.

Admission is $8 Friday and $10 Saturday and Sunday. The recreation center is off of state Route 108.

Additional information is available by calling toll-free (877) 767-5732. A complete entertainment schedule is available online at www.snpj.org/fest_page.html.

The festival is sponsored by the Slovene National Benefit Society, originally named Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota and known now by initials SNPJ.

Founded in 1904 to provide low-cost insurance to Slovenian immigrants, SNPJ is America’s largest Slovenian-based fraternal insurance organization and maintains its status as a nonprofit fraternal benefit society. It’s based in Imperial.