One of the island’s great artistic institutions was La Banda de San Pedro. Created in the 1920’s, La Banda was the result of a long-standing musical tradition in San Pedro. Two Mexicans, Amaton and Toledo, were instrumental in the development of La Banda. Serving as musical directors, they were paid a stipend of about $2 a month by each member of the band, a revenue which they supplemented by giving private music lessons. In 1928 La Banda de San Pedro won the National Concert Festival held at Loyola Park in Belize City, beating such well-established city bands as Colonial Band, Imperial Band, Eureka Band and L.E.C. Old-timers from La Banda, for whom the victory is still a matter of great pride, credit their success to their masterful rendition of the piece ‘La Bohemia’. The delights of La Banda’s music in the 1920’s no doubt provided San Pedranos with a relieving counterpoint to the hardships they endured in the chicle and coconut industries at the time.
