Pierre Painchaud moved from Canada to Biddeford in 1857 when he was five years old, and he was already a band leader by the age of eighteen. Painchaud's Band was organized in Biddeford in 1870 as La Fanfare Painchaud, and lasted with various names until the mid-1990s. It received many awards throughout New England and Canada under Painchaud's direction, and was one of the country's oldest continuing bands.
