The group has a rich and exciting history. Its first performance took place in 1901. The Gorals from Istebna, Jaworzynka, and Koniaków performed at the Przysłop glade under Barania (Ram) mountain at a hunting lodge belonging to the Hapsburg dynasty – a place where Archduke Friedrich used to come to hunt. The Emperor was so taken with the naturalness and spontaneity of their vocal and instrumental performance that he invited the Gorals to Vienna. A few years later, in 1908, the artists from Istebna presented a Goral wedding performance on the 60th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph’s coronation. In the 1920s, the group showed the wedding performance on several different occasions, in Wisła, Cieszyn, Jablunkov (present-day Czech Republic), and Chorzów.
In 1933, Istebna took part in the Presidential Harvest Festival (dozhinki) in Spała. The year after, it participated in the Song Festival in Wisła, and in the following years at the Mountain Festival in Zakopane (1935), Mountain Jamboree in Sanok (1936), and in the Mountain Festival (Mountain Week) in Wisła (1937). The group’s activity was halted by the Second World War. The group also went through a hard time after the liberation of Poland. It managed to reassemble, but encountered a number of obstacles (lack of costumes, funds and venues) and almost entirely suspended its rehearsals and shows.
In 1961, it was decided to revive the group. Zuzanna Gembołyś was made its manager, while Anna Urbaczka became her deputy. The group had its weekly rehearsals at a local school, and later at the hall of the local forestry inspectorate, which for a while acted as Istebna’s patron. The group received a lot of help from the Istebna Municipal Cooperative. In the 1960s the band took part in many events and festivals: in Żywiec, Szczyrk, Ustroń, Cieszyn, Zabrze, Katowice, Warsaw, Kielce, Poznań, Zakopane, and Bukowina Tatrzańska. It also performed in Czechoslovakia, at the Mountain Festival in Jablunkov, and the Strážnice International Folklore Festival. It received many awards and distinctions, and was frequently featured on TV and radio. In 1967, the managing position was taken over by Anna Urbaczka-Bury. Zuzanna Gembołyś was still involved with the band, as the leader of the youth group Młoda Góra (The Young Mountain).
In September 1969, the band was invited to the set of the TV series Czterej pancerni i pies (Four Tank-Men and a Dog). The scenes of the weddings of two of the show’s couples: Janek and Marusia, and Gustlik and Honoratka, were filmed in Istebna Municipality – the group enacted a Goral wedding for these scenes. Before that, the group also performed in Słońce wschodzi raz na dzień (The Sun Rises Once a Day), filmed in Konia.
A lot of the band members are local poets, prose writers and storytellers associated with the Literary Club in Istebna. In the early 1980s, some of the members transferred to another group founded by the educator Józef Broda in Istebna-Zaolzie. At the time, Istebna was led by Anna Urbaczka-Bury, who gathered such prominent soloists as Jadwiga Zabawska and Stanisława Majeranowska. After a break of a few years, the group was revived by Józef Kawulok, who invited several young dancers, singers, and musicians to take part: Piotr Kukuczka, Adam Sobol, and Kazimierz Urbaś. The new band and dancers would often attend concerts in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc.
The Istebna Regional Band, 'Szumi jawor, szumi"
