Ohio Renaissance Festival — Local services in Harveysburg

Total awesome place!!! Plenty of fun for singles, couples, families and even seniors!!! And it’s affordable to everyone!!! Free Parking: lots; especially handicapped; but like any large event the earlier will always be the better; less of a walk to the entrance It’s lots of acres of grass to park on and FREE Easy in and out of this great entertainment center Safety: no fears for anyone; people just come to enjoy; didn’t hear any foul language or see any undesirable things. Just happy people, happy couples and really happy families Tickets: buy online even military or senior; the $1 savings to purchase tickets not worth the wait in line then the wait in entrance lines Entrance lines: the earlier the better. They open at 10.30am not sooner. (Ticket line opens at 10am) By 10.30 the lines were very long BUT once the gates opened it moves very quickly! Affordable: I think this is not bad. It’s cheaper than Kings Island or Disney and comparable to state fairs. There are lots of craft vendors and those, like any other place may get pricey. BUT, keep in mind their unique items are dedicated to making this renaissance festival the very best!!! Food: lots of choices; and yes some may think pricey BUT, once again, keep in mind its priced like state or local fair events. I tried five choices and four of five tasted great. Portions may seem smaller for the cost but just go with the flow and enjoy the moments! Look at those purchasing and you can see what’s served before deciding. I cost it out to an average of $25 a person for a protein, side and non alcoholic beverage Pop, Gatorade $3 or two for $5 Beer $7 Corn on cob $5 Fish and chips $12-$15; not the best Burgers $16 and Garden of Eaten is awesome!!! Fries: $10 Crepes: $16 That was just a small sample of so much available! It’s really not that bad so enjoy the moments!!! Not the cost ALL the vendors are very friendly and polite!!! Food cooked to order Before 12.30pm lines pretty small or no lines at all BUT, after 2-3 hours of events then food lines can get long BUT move pretty quickly. I didn’t see anyone waiting “one hour for food.” I think with crowded food lines you may wait about 30 minutes at best ATMs: plenty and all around the area events At 4.00pm I did not see one sign on an ATM that said “out of order; $) Most vendors accept cash or card and those vendor credit cards seemed to work just fine Events: the stages are all over so my suggestion is get the free map and plan what events you want to see and times so you can see many, enjoy and eat All free!!! Some ask for donations afterwards and the average is $5 donation REMEMBER: the events are FREE and these are just entertainers bringing happiness to all of us on weekends; three shows; lots prep and work; hot costumes and doing their best to bring Las Vegas type events to this great Ohio festival !!! Worth a $5 donation!!! Event grounds: all the paths are on crushed gravel so that can wear on your feet BUT you can always walk on the softer grass areas Mobile scooters seem to work on the gravel Hand wheelchairs may require partner help on that gravel Souvenir shop: plenty and I’d say prices are just typical of like places Well that’s my quick summary I didn’t plan the events available ( my first ever visit) so I going back next weekend This was a great opening day!!! And so many people put so much in costumes and they were all fantastic!!! Every lady was nothing less then elegant !!! Guys (or couples) treated their partners with total respect Families look so happy! My observations for opening day Enjoy This place is about happiness!!! When you are through the gates anything bothering you quickly...

We were at the Ohio Renaissance Festival in 2022 and had a blast; however we attended on 10/7/2023 and the experience was a far cry from a year ago. My general sense is that the event was oversold and unfortunately felt highly disorganized this year, but I will outline the day below.

There was certainly a lot of traffic. We came from the south and exiting highway 71 there certainly felt to be many more people than last year. It took about 20 minutes to get off the highway and parked which didn't feel too out of sorts, even though we were still 30 minutes before opening. However after parking, meeting the rest of our party and getting in line, we found that it took about and hour to get in the gate. Generally you would think 8.5 hours for an event is plenty of time; however we already lost an hour just to get in...after arriving and getting in line 30 minutes early. So 7.5 hours to go.

Having taken so long to get in, we thought it would be a good idea to stop by the bathrooms. I should have just gone by the car. That took away another 30 minutes of the day waiting to just relieve yourself. Thinking maybe this was a fluke and just because the bathrooms were so near the entrance, we decided to get lunch (because it was already a touch past noon). We had 7 hours to go with the rest of the day and nothing to see or show for it.

Food lines were long...though we found something that could tide us over until the lines died down (which they never did). Another 45 minutes and we had food. So we are down to about 6.25 hours left in the day with food and nowhere to sit. So we eat standing and are left with about 6 hours in the day. Unfortunately, so comes the need to use the restroom again. Lines have grown, and this time we spend another 30+ minutes. But we are also down to about 5.5 hours in the day.

A show is going on nearby, nowhere to sit because it is packed. So we opt for standing room only. Part of our group is off to find drinks while the rest of us stand and watch the show. About an hour later we down to 4.5 hours. Have our first drinks of the day, a sort of meal, and got to kind of see a show. Thinking it would be nice to get a turkey leg; however they are out. Guess I will just smoke a turkey back home and split the difference. After walking through some shops (which took a very long time because of the crowds), we had about 3 hours left in the day.

Off to see the new section in the back with sword fighting. Unfortunately this area was also packed. I put by daughter on my shoulders so she could at least catch some of the show while I get to see the back of other spectators heads. At this point we wanted something more substantial to eat and spent the last two hours of the day in more lines to get hotdogs, bottled water (which we got the last three before they ran out) and started heading to the exit early.

An hour early to leave should be good timing...but it wasn't. We ran into friends waiting in a line of cars to leave. They indicated they had been sitting there for 30 minutes without moving. It couldn't possibly take longer, but did. An hour later and we were finally able to leave the parking lot...needing to use a bathroom, food, and water.

I really did love this event in 2022, but the way it was run this last Saturday reminded me of the Fyre Festival films. Poorly managed, oversold, and rather than leaving happy I am upset with the choice to come...

Avoid like the plague this weekend (Oct 13th weekend) we went yesterday Oct 7th. Google maps told me 40 mins from my house. We exited from I 71 at 12:40 PM. We were 2 miles from the entrance. Traffic was backed up. We entered at 3 PM. Over 2 hours to drive 2 miles. Why? The staff had ZERO plans to direct entrance to park. Once in the park? Nothing but frowns as the crowd so massive you couldn’t buy food, you couldn’t walk, and the end game???? Restroom lines were so long it took an hour or more. I even tried to buy a simple pickle as I was starving and wasnt going to wait two hours in line for a drumstick or burger. NOPE. Pickle line just as dreadful. Everyone was mortified at the chaos, everyone was suffering. The outrageously large crowd within a small space destroyed the day for most. I felt horrible for the seniors. They simply couldn’t move around, nor as much go to the bathroom. So we left at 5:40 pm. Arrived at our car at 6 pm. We had a mere 100 feet to drive from our grass parking spot to the exit road. ONE HOUR 20 MINUTES LATER, we were on the exit road. Chaos! Zero planning, and tempers flared. Worse? Since no one could go potty inside the festival, we saw DOZENS publicly urinating in the parking lots. They had no choice. Yet? As unsafe and dangerous as that massive gridlock crowd was? Festival was still selling tickets and letting everyone in. Itcwas RECKLESS ENDANGERING in my view. Why avoid weekend of October 13th? As bad and miserable as traffic and parking was yesterday, next weekends ADDS the popular local Sauerkraut festival. If you go? EXPECT 2-3 hours to drive 2 miles after exiting the highway. Use the restroom before you exit. Bring food, because the food lines will be 2 hours long. NO ONE had a good time yesterday. Total waste of money and I’d say dangerous considering how ticked off that crowd was. Tempers we’re flaring. Keep your kids away. Now! I love the Renaissance Festival. Have for years. The small business vendors, the unique foods, the unique experience is so cool. But???? Management destroyed the experience. Not even being able to use the restroom or buy food destroys all the hard work and creativity of that excellent staff. Management a disaster! I think the police should get involved before this ends as poorly as the who concert. I left three stars instead of a WELL DESERVED one star because I respect and admire the staff and small business vendors. Management? Owners? I’d lock you up in jail for a day without food, water, and restroom so that you can experience what we all did yesterday. Simple solution? Online tickets only, limit the crowd to “safe” levels. Simple! Your greed is going to lead to a disaster. REEL IT IN! Your amazing staff and actors, the public, deserve a safe environment. Again, DO NOT TAKE YOUR FAMILY WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 13th. I believe after that weekend, maybe it’ll be safe to take...