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On Wednesday, June 29, 2016, the San Pedro Town Council hosted the opening ceremonies for the D�a de San Pedro festivities.
The opening ceremonies included a blessing by Bishop Christopher Glancy, the welcome address by Mayor Daniel Guerrero, remarks by Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., keynote remarks by guest speaker, Mr. Francisco Verde and closing remarks by Councilor Hector "Tito" Alamilla.
Opening night was all about the kids! After the speeches the mascots from Fiesta Mundo from Belize city gave a spectacular show for the children with their favorite characters, Caillou, Elsa, Peppa Pig, Minnie & Mickey Mouse. Following the show, Ozzy the clown was next on stage with his magic tricks! He also had some moms dancing on stage with their daughters - the fathers weren't so brave.
And lastly the night ended with a beautiful display of fireworks to end the night with a bang!
On Thursday, June 30, 2016, the second day, the festivities continued with the annual Dia de San Pedro Karaoke Competition hosted by the Reef Radio.
This year the competition included nine (9) contestants: Sergio Aguirre, Ernesto Caliz, Cece, Wilmer Rivero, Javier Castillo, Lisette Gutierrez, Elizabeth Hobarth, Gloria Najera, and Pawa.
The competition consisted of two rounds were all nine participated and had the choice of one song per round.
Claiming this year's Karaoke Champ was Mr. Ernesto "Nasa" Caliz! Javier Castillo came in second and Sergio Aguirre came in third.
Judges for the competition were Yolanda Parham of the San Pedro Town Council, Dion Vansen of the San Pedro Sun Newspaper and Javier Gutierrez of Banyan Bay Villas.
After the karaoke competition, the audience were up for a treat with San Pedro's very own upcoming band, The Caribbean Kings & Gaby.
The band played the crowd's favorite songs, from popular reggaeton hits to your favorite Selena classics. They sure had the crowd dancing!
On Friday, July 1, 2016, the stage was colorfully lit with dance presentations that reminded us of the past when San Pedro was only but a fishing village. Dressed in typical mestizo dresses, the dance group from Palmar, Orange Walk graced us with el baile de la botella, which is a crowd's favorite since the dancers have dance with a bottle on their heads without it dropping. This dance was performed back in the day especially during Carnaval time in San Pedro town.
Following their performance, the San Pedro Dance Academy took the stage and also graced us with old mestizadas which reminded us of the true San Pedrano culture.
Adding more culture to this event, was the ever so popular, Black and White Charikanari Dancers who with their live drumming and dances depicting the daily life of a garinagu had everyone entertained.
And lastly, to end the night, Rompe Raja got everyone on their feet with their catchy tunes and beats.
On Saturday, July 2, 2016, the stage was filled with even more cultural dances show casing the dances of our ancestors and neighbors from Mexico.
El Ballet Folklorico de Chetumal, a dance academy from Chetumal, danced various presentations from throughout the region of M�xico - from Chiapas to Yucat�n and Quintana Roo.
Following their presentation was the phenomenal Belize National Dance Company with their outstanding dance presentations and acrobatics. The performed various genres of music - from cuban melodies to rhythmic dances from Africa and even caribbean melodies.
During the dance presentations, we had a surprise show, as a quincea�era was having out celebrating with her friends and went on stage to perform a dance that she presented at her party.
And to end the night with a bang, Gilharry 7 Band took the stage and had everyone dancing with uptempo beats and classic cumbias and soca songs.