Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Tournament

What:  Dat­ing back to 1360, the offi­cial­ly recog­nised longest run­ning ath­let­ic com­pe­ti­tion seeks to find the best wrestler in Turkey, with hun­dreds of par­tic­i­pants from all over Turkey fight­ing it out to be crowned the best of the best and lift the pres­ti­gious Kirkpinar gold belt.

Wrestlers are deter­mined due to a series of small­er Kirkpinar’s that take place over the year, with only the best of the best mak­ing it through to the final Kirkpinar. The event begins with the tra­di­tion­al auc­tion­ing of the Ram, after which wrestlers will be self-anoint­ed in Oil and water, and dressed only in a small pair of leather shorts will bat­tle each oth­er, with win­ners decid­ed by cov­er­ing or by rais­ing their oppo­nent above their head and declared the win­ner by the Ağası (organ­is­er) and praised by the cazgır (announc­er) who also starts each match by explain­ing the rules.

The final day sees the cul­mi­na­tion of the match­es, with only the last two unde­feat­ed fight­ers squar­ing off for the title, in a match which can last hours – luck­i­ly for spec­ta­tors though there is local food, beer and danc­ing to enjoy at the are­na.

When: The Kirkpinar takes place over the course of one week begin­ning on the last day of June – with the train­ing for par­tic­i­pants begin­ning at least one year before.

Where: The tour­na­ment takes place in the Edrine’s sta­di­um, in the province of Edrine, Turkey, which is on the cusp of the Bul­gar­ia-Turkey bor­der and acces­si­ble also from Istan­bul.

Dura­tion: Each day of the Kirkpinar starts at mid morn­ing and lasts to the evening (depend­ing on the length and num­ber of the match­es), with the atmos­phere and excite­ment build­ing to the final day where the cham­pi­on is decid­ed.

Tick­ets:  Tick­ets are avail­able in advance, but it’s much eas­i­er to buy on the door on the day you attend, the fes­ti­val is very local so it’s advised to no a lit­tle Turk­ish to help for a smooth trans­ac­tion.

Need to Know: While being a pop­u­lar event local­ly the Kirkpinar is not cur­rent­ly attend­ed by tourists, so while locals are love­ly – be pre­pared for lim­it­ed spo­ken Eng­lish and a few mis­ad­ven­tures in get­ting round.