Hotel bookings peak as Edirne wrestling festival nears

EDIRNE

The countdown has begun for one of the oldest wrestling festivals, held since 1360 in the northwestern province of Edirne, with hotel occupancy in the border city reaching its peak, according to a sector representative.

The annual Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival will be held for the 663rd time between July 1 and 7. The event, which attracts many tourists to the city, has resulted in great interest in lodging accommodation.

Selami Tunçel, the business manager of a hotel in the city, has remarked that people made their reservations a month ago.

“Some of the visitors will arrive in the city on Monday and Tuesday [on July 1, 2]. The wrestling will begin following the prayer in the Selimiye Mosque and placement of a wreath in the wrestlers’ cemetery on Friday,” Tunçel said.

Noting that people rarely lodge in nearby cities, Tunçel said: “We have rooms left for only 90 people. We anticipate that it will be more crowded this year.” He added that they expect to witness an enjoyable competition, which will have some 40 wrestlers competing with all their strength.

The head of the hotel, Murat Tunçel, also remarked that the festival drew great interest. “We've made all the preparations for the festival, and now we are only waiting for our guests to arrive,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmet Kıyı, the head of the Sarayiçi field of contest, has stated that they completed the maintenance and repair of the meadow and stands with a capacity of 13,000.

“We prioritize the maintenance of the meadow above all else, so that's the first thing we handle. Following that, we prepare the stands, the referee tower and the places for the press workers while also dealing with the maintenance and repair of wrestler showers and toilets,” Kıyı said.

Underlining that they carry on with the preparations without slowing down, Kıyı called for all the wrestling enthusiasts to attend the event which will showcase wrestlers competing vigorously head-to-head on July 4-7.