Lelo Burti: 11 Things to Know About Georgia’s Oldest Ball Game

In the rolling hills of Georgia, a sport with roots stretching back centuries, one that embodies the fierce spirit of the Georgian people, is still played. Lelo Burti, a full-contact game often described as a precursor to modern-day rugby, has been played for generations in the country’s rural communities, passed down from one generation to the next. 

While the sport may not be widely known outside of Georgia, its history and significance are undeniable and slowly gaining more popularity among locals and foreigners. 

Today, Lelo Burti is more than just a game; it symbolizes Georgian culture and is a source of national pride for one tiny village in Guria, the country’s western region. 

In this blog, I’ll tell you what to expect before you attend Lelo Burti in the upcoming years based on my personal experience and encounter during the 2023 game.

A brief history of Lelo Burti

Lelo Burti literally translates as ‘field ball,’ while ‘lelo’ is one of the oldest Georgian words meaning “[to do something] by force.” 

For many, Lelo Burti is a national sport and the predecessor of modern rugby in Georgia. 

The game’s origins are shrouded in mystery, but a common legend exists about its establishment.

Some researchers believe that Lelo Burti comes from the ancient game called Burtaoba in Georgian, mentioned and explained in the 12th-century poem The Knight in the Panter’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli. 

Other sources state that Lelo Burti started in 1854, when a small group of Gurian troops defeated an Ottoman Empire army, pushing the Turks with all their force back over the hill. 

Therefore, each Lelo Burti match is said to be a tribute to and reenactment of that historic battle.

Fast forward to many decades, Lelo Burti gained popularity and surpassed the borders of Guria. The three neighboring regions of Samegrelo, Imereti, and Guria were the main areas engaged in Lelo Burti during public and religious festivities. 

After the Sovietization, Lelo was standardized, and rules were put in place. My dad, now 77 years old, recalls that not only did towns and villages within one particular region play against each other, but the game was nationalized, with championships held between the regions.

Sadly, rugby became more famous over the last few decades and replaced Lelo everywhere, except the tiny Gurian village of Shukhuti, now the only place that still plays, having preserved the custom for more than 300 years. 

In 2019, Lelo Burti gained an Intangible Cultural Heritage status from the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation Georgia.

11 Things to Know Before You Attend Lelo Burti

If you landed on this blog post, I assume you plan on attending a game of Lelo Burti. There are a few essential things to keep in mind to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable experience. 

In the following section, I’ll give you several key considerations to remember before attending this intense game. From understanding the rules and traditions of the sport to taking safety precautions, being informed and prepared is fundamental for anyone looking to witness the spectacle of Lelo Burti. 

Easter Sunday is the day to play the ball

Every spring, on Orthodox Easter Sunday, the otherwise sleepy village of Shukhuti turns into the region’s most chaotic and noisest town – it’s the day to play Lelo. 

Residents of Shukhuti are divided into two groups – Zemo (Upper) and Kvemo (Lower) Shukhuti, who face off against each other. 

The ball used for playing is not the ball you know

The Easter Sunday morning starts with sewing a black leather ball filled with sand, soil, and sawdust, symbolically soaked with a glass of red Aladasturi wine. The ball should weigh at least 1 pound or 16 kg. It could be more, but no less. The 2023 year ball weighed around 17.5 kg. 

They write the word ‘Lelo’ and the current year on the ball with white paint. Every year, residents make a new ball before the game. 

When done, the ball is brought inside the village’s St. George Church to be blessed and kept secure before the game starts. This is your chance to line up to hold and take a photo with the heavy ball. 

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The game commonly known as ‘rugby without rules’, does have some rules

Although many think that Lelo Burti has no rules except to get the ball to the marked territory, the game does, in fact, have some regulations.

Participants are not allowed to play under the influence of alcohol, though I doubt that’s been well observed during the game. 

The number of players in Lelo Burti is flexible, but the more people participate from each side of the village, the bigger their chance of winning.

If you are brave enough, anyone can participate in the game, be they Georgian or foreign, kids and women, though the latter rarely do. It still is mainly a man’s game. This year, I saw a group of Polish men who had come to participate in Lelo Burti. 

The time is not capped either – it continues until one team wins. It can be 30 minutes or three hours. This year it lasted around one hour. 

The game starts at the center of the village, a few meters from the church, right after Father Saba brings out the ball. 

A man standing beside Father Saba wearing a traditional Gurian shirt and Kabalakhi – a men’s headscarf – fires a shotgun as the priest throws the ball to the participants. 

Back in the day, the eldest resident of the village had the honor of starting the game, but for the last decade or so, Father Saba has done the honors. 

The rule is to carry the ball over a distance of approximately 400 meters to one of two streams on opposite sides of that starting point. In the past, the distance was bigger, prolonging the game, which sometimes went on for the entire day. 

The entire area between the streams, including courtyards, gates, and orchards, serves as the game zone. The highway is closed until the match is over. Patrol police are mobilized from the early morning. 

There are no rules on what a person can or can not do to get the ball. Any maneuver or form of pushing one another is allowed. As such, injuries happen, and when they do, participants raise their hands to signal for a pause to give time for the person to get out of the scrum. 

This practice typically works well, but sometimes fatalities do occur. The last such case happened in 2015 when a middle-aged man tragically passed away during a game of Lelo Burti. They say the match continued. 

The game ends once the ball is carried across the stream. And while the only tangible prize in Lelo is the ball itself, the pride and honor of winning can last for generations.

Teams should bring the ball to their own side of the village

This is where many articles and blog posts about Lelo Burti make mistakes. In other similar games, a team wins by crossing the opposing team’s goal lines. It is entirely the opposite in Lelo Burti. 

To be considered a winning team, the participants must get the ball to their own side of the village. Therefore, the teams stand on opposite sides – Zemo Shukhuti on Kvemo Shukhuti’s side and vice versa. 

When the shotgun is fired, and the ball is thrown, whoever gets the ball starts moving and pushing the scrum. 

To visualize, if the ball is in the hands of the Zemo Shukuti team, for instance, they’ll start pushing to move the crowd back toward their stream and the goal line.  

From the viewers’ point of view, it’s not your typical ball game

Lelo Burti brings hundreds of Shukhuti residents to play the game, and even more spectators from neighboring villages, towns, regions, and even foreigners who want to experience this ancient Georgian traditional ball game. 

Unlike many similar sports games where you can clearly follow where the ball is, who has an advantage, and basically understand the game’s rules, Lelo Burti is different in that sense too. 

There is no throwing the ball or passing it through; instead, it’s always kept low in someone’s arms. The rest of the players push and tug. Therefore, it’s almost impossible to see it during the match. 

Many players don’t even touch the ball; their primary role is to push against the giant scrum to move the mass toward the stream. 

When players need fresh air, to have a break, or drink water, they come out of the scum, rest, and then head back in. 

The winning team doesn’t take the ball home

Back in the day, players believed that the winning side of Shukhuti village would secure a better harvest that year. Today, the winners honor the dead. 

After the match, the winners carry the ball to the cemetery and place it on the grave of a local resident who passed away the previous year. The ball will find its resting place there, forever. 

Before the match, Zemo and Kvemo Shukhuti separately chooses the deceased in their own communities to devote the ball to. Therefore, the residents already know at whose grave the ball will be placed depending on who wins the game. 

This year, Zemo Shukhuti won the Lelo Burti, and the ball was placed at Aleksandre Mgeladze’s grave, who died in 2022 at the age of 47. 

Don’t just leave when the match is over

Before going to the cemetery, the winners and the spectators parade to the deceased family member’s house to honor the person. 

The house’s courtyard has a table offering food and lots of wine. Everyone is welcome to make a toast, congratulate the winners, and pay respect to the dead. 

After a few toasts and photos with the winning team, they move towards the cemetery. 

The ball is placed in front of the gravestone, candles are lit, and everyone pays their respect with a minute or two of silence. 

Then, there’s a slightly bigger supra (feast) waiting for anyone who wants to join in celebrations and honor the deceased person. Father Saba also joins them for a brief blessing, prayer, and a toast. 

There are other festive events to enjoy before the game

Lelo Burti is a whole-day festivity. The event starts in the morning with sewing the ball, followed by a small market of local products from Lanchkhuti municipality, a few other sports games, and a concert of a Georgian band. The game kicks off at 5 pm. 

Gurian ethnographic items from the local museum, such as a gramophone, coal iron, pans, and pots, were on display along with the poster of Gurian horse riders known as “Russian Cossacks,” one of the main participants at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows in the 1890s in the USA. 

A few local folk choirs performed Gurian polyphonic songs in the background of wrestling matches. 

Goderdzi Makharadze, a several-time Guinness World Records holder in heading a soccer ball, improved his record by heading the ball while walking up and down the ladder. 

The fair also included a few local food specialties for everyone to try. One was a type of Khachapuri native to Lanchkhuti – Brinjula – made primarily with rice flour and baked on a stone pot ketsi. 

It’s pretty hard to photograph the game

Since the ball is always hidden and the game attracts hundreds of spectators, it is extremely hard to get great shots of the game if you are not close to the scrum or basically “playing” with them. 

I’ve seen many people standing on rooftops, someone’s gates and fences, and even on top of the trees to get an aerial view of the game. 

You can do the same, but it can be unsafe. As I mentioned above, everything between those streams is a playground, and I saw one guy lose balance and jump off the fence after the players pushed the gate during the game. 

Moreover, you never know which direction the players will move, so being close to them is key to getting great shots. Alternatively, a drone is the best option to fly and have spectacular aerial footage. I saw at least five drones flying above the scrum. 

Always keep your distance for safety

I guess you already got the idea of how brutal and violent Lelo Burti can get, so you always need to keep your distance for safety reasons. 

Ensure you have enough space to escape the crowd whenever you see the scum moving in your direction. 

If you drive, don’t park close to the church

If you rent a car to drive to Shukhuti, park your car somewhere before the Zemo Shukhuti stream or after the Kvemo Shukhuti one. 

We parked near the petrol station close to the stream, and the patrol police made us park elsewhere for safety reasons. 

Upcoming Lelo Burti dates

Lelo Burti falls on Easter Sunday during Orthodox Easter festivities in Georgia; therefore, here are the dates for upcoming years. 

• May 5, 2024
• Apr 20, 2025
• Apr 12, 2026
• May 2, 2027

Keep an eye on the Lanchkhuti Municipality Facebook page, they post the Lelo Burti festivity schedule around 3-4 days in advance.

How to get to Shukhuti

The best way to get to Shukhuti is to drive. If you’d be renting a car, I recommend doing so with Local Rent for excellent service, low prices, and a great choice of vehicles. 

You’ll have a hard time getting to Shukhuti using public transport. Since it’s Easter in Georgia, public transportation works scarcely. Moreover, most people return to the regions from Tbilisi, resulting in sold-out train, bus, and marshrutka seats. 

Ozurgeti, one of the primary towns of Guria, is 34 km away from Shukhuti, Samtredia 29 km, and Kutaisi is about 66km away. 

Where to stay overnight

Since there are no guesthouses or hotels in Shukhuti, I recommend staying at a nearby bigger city overnight and attending all the festivities from the morning of Easter Sunday. The most convenient is Ozurgeti, but you can also find guesthouses in Samtredia or Kutaisi. Here are my recommended boutique hotels in Kutaisi. 

Menabde Winery: nestled in the vicinity of Ozurgeti town, this 3-star hotel offers guests a range of facilities, including a shared lounge, a terrace, and an on-site restaurant and bar. Each air-conditioned room has a private bathroom, while some feature a balcony with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. 

Dumbo Eco Camp: located in the village of Gomi, Ozurgeti Municipality, Dumbo Eco Camp offers stunning mountain views and a private beach area in its A-frame cabins. Each unit has a fully functional kitchen with a fridge, oven, coffee machine, and kettle. 

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