Sneeker Dweildag

Mop-up bands from all over the country manifest themselves in two classes, the Leut Class or the Competition Class. All chapels gather at 11 a.m. at the Marktstraat where the starting signal is given by chanting the words "Fire, flame, loose. The bands then jointly set the Sneeker Dweillied that has been specially arranged for this day. After this the dweilorkesten move to the various performance places in the center of Sneek.

All day some 36 mop bands play at 8 locations in the center of Sneek. Around 5:15 pm is the award ceremony on the Marktstraat.

The word "dweil" in dweil orchestras or dweilkapellen comes from the term "dweilen," in the sense of "aimlessly, wandering the streets. In Brabant, and Limburg, it is (or more often, was) customary during carnival to 'dweilen' from café to café, this was done to the accompaniment of small carnival bands that provided the music. Thus, the terms "mweilband," "dweilkapel" and "dweilorkest" soon came into being. From the early 1970s, the Blauhúster Dakkapel played during the mop-up breaks of the World Cup and European Championship skating competitions in the Thialf stadium in Heerenveen, and the term 'Dweilorkest' took on a new and more original meaning.