KERHONKSON – If you've been looking for a good opportunity to test your dancing shoes, clear your schedule this weekend: the first annual Ulster Cajun and Zydeco Music and Dance Festival is making its way to the Mountain Valley Resort and Peg Leg Bates Nightclub from June 12 to 14.

What's zydeco music, you ask? For the uninitiated, zydeco is a style of music that developed in the American South, specifically in Louisiana, and it's as intertwined with the Cajun culture as is gumbo…and in fact, the two make quite the winning combination.

And like a good gumbo, it's the ingredients that make zydeco what it is: in addition to the traditional stalwarts of southern blues and rock, the guitar, bass, and drums, zydeco just isn't zydeco without a washboard (or scrub-board) and accordion, the latter of which leads the way in each and every song.

Not much zydeco has made its way to the mainstream, though you may have heard a tune or two here and there. Though, if you've ever given Paul Simon's album Graceland a listen, you've probably tapped your foot to the zydeco tune, "That Was Your Mother."

Well, whether you're new to zydeco or not, your chance to get out of the house and boogie down with some of the country's best zydeco musicians is upon you. The forthcoming Ulster Cajun and Zydeco Music and Dance Festival, though in its first year in these parts, has its own roots elsewhere. According to Dennis Ballantine, who along with festival promoter Bill Molloy is organizing the event, the festival was held annually for 16 years at the Sunrise Resort in Moodus, Connecticut.

"Last December, I got news that the Sunrise Resort was sold to the state of Connecticut and expected — and I was correct — that the state was not either going to allow or have the time, knowing how the state works, to organize anything for this year," he says. "I thought that if there was any way that I could possibly get it organized even on a small scale this year, and establish it here in Ulster County, that it would be a wonderful thing for Ulster County, to have an established music festival here every year, especially this Cajun-zydeco thing, because it's really a nice, nice event."

Since December, Ballantine and Molloy have sprung into action, booking the bands, organizing the food (like the aforementioned gumbo and barbeque) and vendors, and working to make sure that this inaugural zydeco-fest in Ulster County goes off without a hitch.

As for what it is about zydeco that gets him so fired up, Ballantine is about as enthusiastic as it gets.

"If you have not had the experience of a real bona fide southern Louisiana live zydeco band, there's almost no words that can describe it. I'm not making that up, I'm not just saying that. It's something that's really, really unique, and as much good clean fun as one can have. It's participatory—it's a dance," he says.

What's more, even if you don't know a Texas Two-Step from Texas Toast, the huge community of zydeco dancers who make their way to these events will be more than happy to instruct you in the finer points of rug-cutting, Cajun-style.

"It's carefree, enjoyable, fun…it's happy. It's just a good time," exclaims Ballantine of the music. "It just brings joy into your life!

"This has its own style, it's very unique, and in a sense, it's otherworldly. It transports you someplace that is very different than anything else that you'll ever experience. It's a completely unique musical experience."

Featured performers range from Cleoma's Ghost to the renowned Roy Carrier and his Zydeco Gents. The full performance schedule and other information can be found on the Mountain Valley Resort's website: www.mvresort1.com.

Sound like a good time? Well, in the words of one of zydeco's most famous performers, Boozoo Chavis, "Yeah, you right!"

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