Every year since 1640 the best Turk grapplers of all ages have gathered for The Kirkpinar Festival, the "world series" of yagli gures (oil wrestling). Takes place on a broad grassy field where nearly 1,000 barefoot athletes, oil up and strip to the waist, to compete for the gold belt of the bas pehlivan. The tournament runs for three days, with continuous matches fought in ten divisions, from schoolboys to forty-year-old master wrestlers.