Who we are
Kırkpınar.com is written by a small group of editors who live in Istanbul and drive to Edirne every summer for the wrestling. Some of us grew up with the festival on television. One of us wrestled in the boys' classes as a teenager and stopped at deste.
We write for the reader who has heard the phrase "oil wrestling" once and wants to understand it before the first bout. That means explaining the legend of the forty men without embellishing it. It also means explaining how a bout is actually won, which is harder than it sounds.
The site is in English on purpose. Turkish readers have the municipality and the federation; readers arriving from abroad have had very little that is accurate, current and written for them.
How we check facts
Every date, rule and name on this site is traced to one of three primary sources before it is published. The Edirne municipality publishes the program for the festival week each year. It also announces the result of the ağa auction.
The Turkish Wrestling Federation publishes the regulation that defines the thirteen categories. The same document sets the time limits for each class.
The third source is the nomination file behind the UNESCO listing of 2010. Where the legend and the documents disagree, as they do on the year the count starts from, we say so rather than pick a side.
We also go. Sitting in the stands is the only way to learn how the cazgır's introductions sound. It is also the only way to learn which seats end up in the afternoon sun.
Where we can, we talk to wrestlers and trainers about a year of training. We ask what they eat, and we mark those passages as interviews.
Some things cannot be pinned down. The table of head wrestlers is checked year by year against the federation's list, and any entry we could not confirm carries a note saying so. When a reader sends a better source, the page changes and the change is dated at the bottom.
Independence
Nothing is for sale on this site. We do not sell tickets, tours, hotel rooms or kispet, and no page carries a paid placement or an affiliate link. If we mention a hotel near Sarayiçi, it is because we slept there and would again.
We are not affiliated with the Edirne municipality, which runs the festival. Nor are we tied to the Turkish Wrestling Federation, which writes the rules. Both are quoted often and neither reviews our text before it goes up.
We describe the festival. We do not represent it.
Costs are covered by the editors themselves. That keeps the site small, which suits a subject that fits, with care, into seven guides.
The seven guides
The History guide begins with the spring and the forty raiders. It follows the tournament through the Ottoman centuries and its move to Edirne. It ends at the field as it is today.
See also: the move to Edirne, the Republic.
The Rules guide explains why there are no weight classes. It shows how the draw pairs wrestlers and what counts as a foul. It is the page to open on your phone in the stands.
See also: fouls and what is allowed, the final day.
The pehlivan guide is about the men themselves. It starts with what the word means and the master and apprentice system that still produces champions. The golden belt section explains why a head wrestler keeps it only after three wins in a row.
See also: the başpehlivan.
Kispet and oil covers the equipment and the ritual. It describes the leather trousers and the oil that goes on them. The peşrev warm-up gets its own section.
See also: olive oil, zembil and the red candle, glossary.
The festival week is the practical guide. It tells you when it happens and what you will see on the field. A planning section covers the rest.
Those who cannot be there get a section on watching on television.
Edirne is the city guide. It covers Selimiye and the old town, the museum, and where to stay. It closes with what to bring home and day trips beyond the city.
The Kırkpınar House museum gets a section of its own. So does what to eat.
The home page lists all seven guides in order under the bill. Below it sits a short table of golden belts won for keeps. One paragraph there answers how a bout ends.
Contact and corrections
Write to editors@kirkpinar.com. We read everything and answer within two days during most of the year; during the festival week itself, allow a little longer.
A correction is most useful when it names the page, quotes the sentence, and points to a source. A federation bulletin, a municipality announcement or a dated newspaper report is ideal. A memory of what a trainer said in 1988 is welcome too, and we will say that it is a memory.
If you are a wrestler, a trainer, a cazgır or a former ağa and something here does not match your experience, we want to hear it. The oiling ritual in particular was written from observation, and first-hand detail improves it. Photographs of the Sarayiçi field from before 1985, when the stands were still made of reed, are especially wanted.
Questions
Who runs Kırkpınar.com?
A small editorial team based in Istanbul. We travel to Edirne for the festival week each year and write the guides ourselves; nobody at the municipality or the federation edits them.
Do you sell tickets or organize trips to Kırkpınar?
No. We sell nothing and we take no commission. For tickets, use the municipality's own outlet, which we describe in the festival guide.
How do I report a mistake?
Email editors@kirkpinar.com with the page name, the sentence in question and, if you have it, a source. We answer within two days and note the change on the page.
Can I use your text or photographs?
Short quotations with a link back are fine. For anything longer, or for any photograph, write to us first; most photographs belong to the people who took them.