Ohio RenFest finds its magic in Warren County
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A Viking-themed weekend at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Photos: Courtesy of the Ohio Renaissance Festival
For most of the year, Warren County is a pretty buttoned-up place. But every September, things get a little weird.
- Like, the "dress-up-as-Vikings-and-pirates" kinda weird.
Why it matters: The two-month, weekends-only Ohio Renaissance Festival (Sept. 5–Nov. 1) is expected to once again draw hundreds of thousands of visitors, turning a once-quirky autumn attraction into a major tourism driver.
What they're saying: "It's a perfect mix of escapism," Cheryl Bales, the festival's longtime marketing director, tells Axios. "You have connection and the creativity that … mesh together in that perfect mix."
- Bales started at the festival in Waynesville more than 25 years ago as a part-time college intern, expecting to stay one season. She never left.
"The festival has a way of taking your heart," Bales said.
The big picture: A lot of hearts have been grabbed in recent years. Since 2015, attendance has jumped from 145,000 to more than 285,000 last year, and Bales expects more than 300,000 visitors this year.
- The festival packs in more than 100 shows across 22 stages featuring everything from full-contact armored fights to singing and a "whip" demonstration.
- There are also 215 shops spread across 30 acres about 17 miles from downtown Mason.
- An ownership change in 2015 brought investments in entertainment, food and creature comforts — including decidedly non-16th-century flushable toilets.
Fantasy going mainstream hasn't hurt. Think "Game of Thrones," steampunk, tabletop gaming and pirate culture, Bales says.
- "People really seem to appreciate having the ability to just kind of get away (from reality) for a while."
Zoom in: Mel McVay of Covington, Kentucky, started attending in 2021. She has variously dressed as an elven ranger, Viking shield maiden and a völva, essentially a Viking shaman.
- "I love seeing all the fun costumes," she says. "All these complete strangers are just walking around complimenting each other on their costumes. It's a joyful place."
McVay's favorite? Someone dressed as a character from the video game "Among Us."
- "Everyone kept walking up to them saying, 'You look sus,'" McVay says. "It was fantastic."
Zoom out: Tourism is a huge part of Warren County's economy, drawing more than 14 million visitors every year and generating an estimated $1.74 billion economic impact, according to the Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
- The tourism season used to largely revolve around Kings Island's spring opening and summer closing and the Cincinnati Open, says Scott Hutchinson, the CVB's spokesperson.
- Now, fall attractions like RenFest are helping make the county a year-round destination.
Between the lines: The secret might be that RenFest visitors don't just watch, Bales says. They play along.
- They get to carry swords, eat massive turkey legs, drink mead, and cheer on jousting knights and armor-clad barbarians.
- And you don't have to be a full-on medievalist to join in — "normies" from Warren County and beyond get swept up in it, too.
The last word: "When you see people come through the front gate in the morning, and then you see them leave, and they're wearing boots or a kilt or a whole outfit," Bales says, "you're like, 'OK, they found the magic too.'"
