The Ukrainian band “YAGODY” originated after Zoriana Dybovska’s previous project in Donetsk. In 2010, Mykola Huseynov proposed creating a band called “Khrushchi v Borschi” to perform and popularize Ukrainian music in the East. The group existed for four years but disbanded due to the onset of hostilities in the Donbas region. In 2014, Zoriana, along with her son, had to leave Donetsk and relocate to a safe territory. However, she didn’t abandon the idea of reviving and reinterpreting folk songs. In June 2016, the band “Yа́gody” was founded in Lviv, with Zoriana as the driving force and participants being talented actresses she taught stage speech. Together, they explored the Ukrainian repertoire through artistic “home expeditions” and learned to play musical instruments.

The band’s name emerged accidentally. At their first performance (Lviv Book Forum, 2016), the moderator Volodymyr Biehlov announced the band as “Yagody” (in English- Berries). By 2017, at the “Muszelki Wigier” festival in Suwalki, Poland, due to another host’s carelessness, the band’s name changed to “Yagódy.”

The year 2020 proved pivotal for the band, as they presented their debut album with the same name, “YAGODY,” along with a music video for the song “Kalyna-Malyna.” The album included ten singles based on Ukrainian and foreign folk music. In 2021, a music video for the single “Zelena Lishchyna” was released, followed by “Divonko” in 2022. In 2023, the band created their first original song “Tsunamia”, which they will present in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Currently, the band has refreshed and grown. They actively tour Europe and organize charity concerts abroad. The ensemble consists of three vocalists, an accordionist, a bass guitarist, a drummer, and a cymbalist.