HAJDA BANDA

Friday 9 October 7.30pm
£22 (£20 concessions | £8 under 35)
This will be a standing concert with a limited amount of fixed seating around the edge of the auditorium
14+, under 18s must be accompanied by an adult

Hajda Banda / Гайда Банда is a Polish-Belarusian band specializing in traditional dances and songs from eastern Poland’s Podlasie region, the western provinces of Belarus, and the wetlands of Polesye, a cultural crossroads on the Poland-Ukraine-Belarus border. The group performs exclusively on acoustic village instruments, including the violin, hammered dulcimer, three-row Polish accordion, and frame drum, blending the rural music of the borderlands with their own distinct style.

The band’s sound resonates across generations. A 92-year-old resident of Dubicze Cerkiewne, a small village in Podlasie, describes their music as ‘like in the old days’ while a four-year-old from Białystok, the regional capital, calls it ‘beautiful — like a star in the sky, joyful and full of life’.

On March 8, 2025, Hajda Banda released their second album, Niepraudzivaya (False), a project crowdfunded by 152 supporters. Nominated to Folk Alliance International’s ‘Global Folk Album Of The Year’ Award, Songlines Magazine’s “Top of the World” (May ’25), Lira Musikmagazin’s “Lira Gillar” (September ’25), and ranked #3rd in World Music Charts Europe (May ’25), Niepraudzivaya became one of the most widely acclaimed world music albums from Poland in 2025.

Hajda Banda’s debut album, ‘Hajda!’ (Let’s go!), released on February 24, 2023, received critical acclaim and won the Songlines Magazine Readers’ Album of the Year 2024 award, third prize in Polish Radio’s Folk Phonogram of the Year 2023 competition, and third place in the Wirtualne Gęśle Audience Award 2023 for the best Polish folk music album of the year.

In May 2022, Hajda Banda participated in New Tradition, Poland’s leading folk music competition organized by Polish Radio, where they won the Audience Award, 3rd prize from the jury, and the Szczecin Philharmonic Award.

The band was founded in autumn 2021 by violinist Daria Butskaya as an artistic extension of her Gaude Polonia scholarship, awarded by the National Centre for Culture. Since its formation, Hajda Banda has performed over 115 concerts across Poland and internationally.

The members of Hajda Banda have over a decade of experience performing folk music in various ensembles, including Duality, Orkiestra Taneczna Bonanza, and Kapela Ozimkowicza. The band is based in Warsaw and Kraków.

Line-up:
Daria Butskaya – violin, voice
Kuba Zimończyk – three-row accordion, voice
Paweł Iwan – hammered dulcimer, voice
Mateusz Dobrowolski – frame drum, voice