Ohio Renaissance Festival

The Ohio Renaissance Festival is an annual event that takes place on weekends from late August through October. This Renaissance festival is held at a permanent site located near Harveysburg in Warren County, Ohio. It was voted Best Festival in Warren County in 2011.

The Ohio Renaissance Festival first opened its gates in 1990 in between Harveysburg, Ohio and I-71. Over the 25 years the site has been opened, it has grown into a 30 acre permanent village with over 100 shops and 12 outdoor stages. The festival is set in the fictional 16th-century English village of "Willy Nilly-on-the-Wash," during the reign of Elizabeth I. Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins and John Dee are a few historical figures that reside in Willy Nilly, along with some not so historical but very much entertaining residents. The festival features costumed performers on stages and in the streets, craft shops selling and demonstrating period themed handcrafted goods and artwork, renaissance themed food, and regularly scheduled comedy, music, and acrobatic shows. Featured shows include Theatre in the Ground, jousting with the Knights of Valour and Shane Adams (the host of Full Metal Jousting -an American reality television jousting themed show. ) DaVinci Bros. Comedy Opera, Dirk and Guido: The Swordsmen! and the Kamikaze Fireflies (the duo that were featured on America's Got Talent).

The performing cast including the Queen and her entourage along with representatives from each festival shop make a parade circuit through the fairgrounds once a day.