What to know about the Ohio Renaissance Festival

🏰 Inside the gates: The grounds are a sprawling, 35-acre village themed around 16th-century England — one of the nation's largest renaissance fair spaces.

• This permanent home stays assembled year-round in Waynesville, allowing venues like the Theatre in the Ground to remain undisturbed in the offseason.

⚔️ Events run the gamut from authentic to absurd, including hard-hitting jousts and swordfights in full armor and entertainers doing stunts, comedy bits and theatrical performances.

👑 More than 175 shops line the streets.

• You can buy yourself a set of chain mail, an old-fashioned leatherbound notebook or glass creations blown in front of you.

🍗 Massive turkey legs are the universal symbol of renaissance fairs, but hungry knights can find a surprisingly wide variety of food, from barbecue and "steak-on-a-stake" to bread bowls and pizza.

• Plus: beer, wine and mead for the bards.

🗓️ Each weekend has its own theme, from the Feast of Fools to pirates, vikings and romance.

📱 Pro tip: Expect 16th century connectivity — cell service isn't great in the park, and there's no WiFi.

If you go: 10:30am-7pm Saturday-Sunday (and Labor Day) through Oct. 26, 10542 E. State Route 73, Waynesville.

• $12-40. Kids under 5 free!