2018 Ohio Renaissance Festival: A Review

Posted October 2, 2018 by shooting in Cincinnati / 28 Comments

Ohio Renaissance Festival

I was given free tickets to check out the 2018 Ohio Renaissance Festival, but my thoughts are very much my own and those thoughts are that this was such a fun outing and I highly recommend you attend if you live anywhere in the area. My sister and I attended with a couple friends – and even met up with another friend – and despite having to drive an hour to get there, it’s definitely worth it!

When To Arrive at the Festival

The Ohio Renaissance Festival is open every Saturday and Sunday through September and October, so there is still an entire month left to go. The hours are 10.30-6 each day and my friends and I attended on Sunday, September 30. We arrived at 10.30 and stayed for five hours! I recommend getting there when it opens so you have plenty of time to see everything you want. You are given a map when you get there, letting you know where everything is located and what time/where the various shows are taking place. Arriving at the Ohio Renaissance Festival as it opens means you are sure to see all the shows you want – since they only occur at certain times.

First Show of the Day: OOPS! COMEDY KNIFE THROWING

We hadn’t been on the festival grounds for long before a couple people were letting us know about the Oops! Comedy Knife Throwing taking place soon. We all figured, why not? and headed over to the stage to see them perform. We had some time to kill but one of the men in the show kept the crowd pretty entertained until it began.

The Oops! Comedy Knife Throwing Act at the Ohio Renaissance Festival is just two men who do a variety of fun “stunts” that keep you oohing and awwing in between laughs. While the show states that it’s knife throwing, there is actually some other things that occur before then. It starts with some juggling, and even juggling back and forth with an audience member in between (this was bowling ball type pins and knives).  Very talented!

Eventually, it was time for some proper knife throwing! This was fun. They are definitely two talented guys, but I like that it was very much a comedy show too. It keeps everything moving quick and makes for an enjoyable show. This wasn’t something I’d seen in the past, so I’m not sure if I’d missed it before or they were new to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. At any rate, I suggest checking it out!

Can I Interest You In Some Shopping?

The Ohio Renaissance Festival is kind of set up like an old village. You walk around in a big circle, with plenty in the middle of the circle, and there are the shows, lots of food, and of course – all the many goodies you can buy!! It’s fun to see what items are for sale as most of them are handmade. People are so talented!! But seriously – how cool would it be to have a magic wand of your own, as seen in the above photo? There were various types of wands throughout the Festival, so this is just one example!

Another fun item I saw for sale were these really cool leather masks. Can you spot Jack Skellington up there? Do you recognize any other fun characters? Sometimes I wish I didn’t have glasses – or I had contacts at least – because these masks would be so much fun to wear!

Second Show of the Day: KAMIKAZE FIREFLIES

Kamikaze Fireflies

I actually saw the Kamikaze Fireflies perform at the Ohio Renaissance Festival last year, but I knew I had to see them again – and introduce them to my two friends! Kamikaze Fireflies are a fun duo who actually performed on a previous season of America’s Got Talent. They spin on a German wheel (while even holding glass cups), use whips to cut cards in two, climb up a ‘mountain’ of chairs, juggle knives, and light a lot of things on fire!

Not only do they do fun stunts, but they are really entertaining all around – sure to make you laugh! Whether you’ve seen them before or not, they are always enjoyable, so I recommend going back again and again.

Yum Yum- The Food!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos of all the food we ate but let me tell you, it was great. For lunch, my sister, a friend, and I all had chicken and rice (so good!) and our other friend had fish and chips. Throughout the day we all had various other foods too. The friend we met up with had chocolate covered strawberries that looked so yummy! One friend and I had brownie sundaes – and other friend had rainbow cake (it was essentially vanilla cake with rainbow colored layers; so cute!)

Now, I did take a couple photos, and I want to share those. The above is Dole Whip, which you usually get at a place like Disney World. It’s kind of like pineapple ice cream in an actual pineapple. We were all able to share this and it’s so good and refreshing!

Later in the day my sister and one of our friends both got a bread bowl. They chose the broccoli and cheese topping, and they both seemed to really enjoy it. I’m not a big soup person – and I was quite full already – but it smelled very good. My sister also got corn on the cob because she has to get at least one when we go to places like this!

The Ohio Renaissance Festival is definitely a great place to go and eat. There are tons of food options for everyone, kids included. If I had the money – and the room in my stomach – I’d have eaten a lot more!

Finally – Photo Ops!

Outside the Tower of London, you can get take a photo in the stocks – for free! I had one of my friends pose for me. What’s funny is that I didn’t actually get any pictures with myself or my sister in them – and I normally do! Thankfully, I had two of my friends who were willing to give us some photo ops!

And finally – my friend got to ride a camel!! How fun, right? It was seven dollars and someone leads you around a little enclosure twice. There was a young boy in front of my friend – who she didn’t know – but obviously if you’re a couple or have two kids, they can ride one camel together. She said she enjoyed it, so it seems worth the price for a fun experience that you wouldn’t normally get. Plus, if you have a young kid, they have pony rides right next to the camel rides that might be better suited for their size!

2018 Ohio Renaissance Festival: The Food, The Shows, and Even Camel Rides! Review #ontheblog. Would you attend? Click To Tweet

Thank you again to the U.S. Family Guide and the Ohio Renaissance Festival for allowing me to attend the festival for free this year. I had a great time, and I hope I’ve enticed some of you locals to check it out. If you aren’t close enough to the Ohio location, see if your state has their own Renaissance Festival and make plans to attend.

If you liked this post, check out my review of the 2017 Ohio Renaissance Festival

28 responses to “2018 Ohio Renaissance Festival: A Review

  1. Thank you for sharing. We have been living in Ohio for two years but I had not heard of this event. It looks like a fun family outing…especially if Dole Whip is available. We will have to check it out.

  2. candy

    I love renaissance fairs and attending them is so much fun. Enjoyed looking at your photos and everything you did that day.

  3. I attented the Renaissance Fair when I lived in Phoenix a couple of times and it was a lot of fun. I loved the costumes, the shopping and the shows. Looks like you had a great time.

  4. Oh how fun! I love the pictures, especially the food, it looks so delicious! I wish I had gone to my Renaissance festival now. I am making it a priority next year.

  5. It’s really weird that I have never been to a Ren Faire because I would love it. We have one in Uostate NY thats been going on for over 30 years. This one looks fab. And the foid, yum! Did you buy a wand?

  6. So fun! We have a renaissance festival about 45 minutes away from us, but I’ve never been. The shows sound really entertaining, and the food…yum!

  7. Ooh fun! the Michigan festival has wrapped up for the year, glad to see Ohio is still going for a month. I need to make it down there one of these years. And I love soup in a bread bowl. 🙂

    Cool masks too!

  8. Looks like a great time. Was there a big crowd? Just realized our area Renaissance Festival is the first weekend of November. We have been once before and I was so envious of the beautiful costumes some of the gals were wearing. I would love to have a costume and go this year. I would be all over that soup and bread bowl, too!!

  9. How awesome that you got tickets! This looks like so much fun! Comedy knife throwing sounds great, haha. Also impressive! Shopping around little booths of handmade stuff is always a great time. I immediately noticed the Jack Skellington mask! I’ve always loved German wheel acts! With all the circus-y performances, I’d love this. Photo opps are fun, and the food looks delicious. And oh man, I’d love to ride a camel! Seriously there is nothing about this that doesn’t sound amazing!

  10. I’ve been one time to the Michigan Renaissance Festival and had a blast. I love that you got to go to the Ohio one with your friends. The shows look fun and the Pineapple ice cream sound sooo good.

  11. This sounds like a fun time. I’m not sure this is the same renaissance fair my sister-in-law works at, she’s closer to Clevland. That Dole Whip looks amazing!! I haven’t had one of those in years.

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