Off Grid

Off Grid Festival brings urban sports, music, and local talent together in Maasmechelen Op Saturday, July 4 and Sunday, July 5, the Urban Sports Park forms the backdrop for Off Grid Festival, a free two-day festival around urban culture, sport, and music. Visitors can participate in competitions and workshops, catch performances, or just experience the atmosphere. The festival is the final piece of a broader trajectory in which Maasmechelen youth became acquainted with various urban disciplines over the past months. Through workshops, initiations, and bootcamps, they discovered, among other things, rap, DJ, graffiti, street dance, and urban sports. In doing so, they were guided by artists, coaches, and makers from the region, including Aram Abgaryan, producer at Romeo Elvis and Oscar and The Wolf, and Marco Scarpato, graffiti artist from Petados Crew. On July 4 and 5, that trajectory gets a public sequel. The program includes a skate contest in collaboration with KPM Skate, pumptrack with Stijn Hens, a panna competition, street dance battles, and workshops with, among others, Puya Yazdani (So You Think You Can Dance 2026), a breakdance battle with Battle Droids Crew, a 3x3 basketball street league, a graffiti jam, and an upcycling trajectory in collaboration with Kringwinkel Maasmechelen. Local talent also plays a central role during the festival. Basketbalclub Maasmechelen organizes the basketball tournament on Sunday. Dansers Fabio Carcieri and Zoë Guisson take on the street dance battle part. Marco Scarpato continues to follow the graffiti part with jam sessions. Nihan Yilmaz collaborates on upcycling graffiti, while Mits & Drizz and DJ LC help provide the musical input. On Saturday evening, the focus shifts to music, with live performances and DJ sets by, among others, Leblanco, De Twins, Mits & Drizz, Marielou, and DJ LC. Hip hop, afrobeats, amapiano, and r&b set the tone then. Met Off Grid wants the municipality of Maasmechelen to give young people space to move, create, show talent, and meet each other. The festival brings sport, music, and street culture together in an accessible setting, with a strong focus on community.