Subject: RE: Amana Colonies Polka Festival?
From:
Mark Clark
Date: 11 Mar 04 - 03:05 PM
As it happens, I live very close to the Amana Colonies. In fact, I'll be driving through there in a few minutes as I do each week for a bluegrass jam session in Marengo. I've not attended a Polka Festival at the Amanas but I can tell you a little about the area.
The Amana Colonies are a group of seven small villages founded by a group of German immigrants in the nineteenth century. It isn't a religious community a la Amish, Mennonite and their ilk. Rather, it was a group of communist (communal) collonies in which everything was owned by the group. People lived in the villages, ate in common dining rooms and shared in farming the fertile land that was also owned communally by the Amana Society. They didn't eschew modern developments and finally yielded to pressure to privatize land holdings only when the strong fear of communism swept the US.
The Amana Society still controls the character and development of the area and ensures the historic cultural feel of the colonies. Guided tours of the villages and historic buildings are available throught the summer. A great deal is made of the restaurants in the area which try to capture the feel of Amana communal dining by preparing traditional German fare served family style at large tables. Often the restaurants will employ an accordian player during the busy dining hours.
Northeast Iowa was settled largely by Germans, Czechs, and Nordic peoples and many cultural events in the area reflect those traditions. The US National Czech and Slovak Museum is located here in Cedar Rapids. I imagine there are lots of polka bands in the area. Antonin Dvorak spent a summer with friends in Spillville northeast of here where I think he composed his Humoresque and was inspired to compose his New World Symphony.
The area designated for the Polka Festival is a relatively new park/theater/convention center originally built to host the Farm Progress Show (a gigantic agricultural products show held each September at varying locations). Amana also hosts other music festivals including a bluegrass festival. They also have a big hot air balloon event though I can't remember when it's held.
The local beer will be a severe disappointment to someone used to actual beer—for instance, someone from the UK. The Millstream Brewing Co. is located in Main Amana and produces beers that are a cut above US mass-produced products but wouldn't win any awards at a real beer expo. The restaurants will serve imported beers such as Beck's and Dortmunder (DAB) and may even have Bass available. I don't know what will be available on the festival grounds. Often promoters just contract with a large distributer and you wind up trying to choke down Miller Lite. There was a great great microbrewry near here producing a fine pale ale but the weakened US economy finally spelled its doom. It's possible the promoters will bring in products from other regional microbrewrys but don't count on it.
If you decide to come, please send me an email or PM so we can make arrangements to get together. I'd enjoy that.
- Mark
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