THE
HISTORY
FESTIVAL
When he founded the OWL Movement in 2011, Dhélé Agbetou realized a vision he had since he was a teenager. His dream to build a hip hop scene in the region of OWL (Ostwestfalen Lippe) was the motivation to create a big event for the urban dance scene. The goal was to bring the best teachers from all over the world to Bielefeld, to pass on the profound knowledge about urban dance cultures to dancers and visitors and to create a platform for all kinds of spectators and people. Since then, the festival, which started with 30 participants and has its permanent place at DansArt Tanznetworks in Bielefeld, has become one of the most relevant urban dance festivals in Germany. After the premiere of its sister festival in Berlin in 2021, Urban Stylez will this year cross national borders and for the first time take place in Bielefeld's sister city Nahariya as Urban Stylez Israel.
For his dance career, his cultural commitment, the promotion of young talent and his years of work for the urban scene, Dhélé Agbetou and his OWL Movement, which also gave rise to the Urban Stylez Festival, were awarded the Culture Prize of the City of Bielefeld.