Things to Do: Yuletide Festival
I’ve learned in the last year how popular a local festival has been growing. The Ohio Renaissance Festival has made a name for itself and started to appear in lists as one of the best Ren Fests nationally. (Shoutout to Texas , New York, Wisconsin, and North Carolina for having the other top fests most commonly listed when I did a lazy google search!)
Santa Claus rests in a chair with a mug and book next to him by a fireplace.
A sign declaring a shop has been personally sanctioned and approved by HRH Queen Elizabeth to operate.
Ohio Ren fest started in 1990 by Peter Carroll, who sold to the Brimstone and Fire LLC in 2015. Taking place on a farm in Waynesville, Ohio, it has grown to 30 acres of permanent structures crafted in the style of 16th Century Tudor England. They’ve given the town the fictional name Willy Nilly-on-the-Wash, and it resides under the rule of Elizabeth the 1st. Last count I found shows they house over 166 shops and 17 outdoor stages. This year had an expanded area for even more food stalls and entertainment booths added to the back side of the park. Ren fest lasts from September through October with every weekend providing a new theme that tailors its shows, vendors and the costumes worn by workers and visitors alike. They see enough people that this year’s most popular weekend, Viking Weekend unfortunately had people turned away at the gate as they were at safe capacity for Saturday.
Holiday lights decorating a section of the fair.
Visitors making smores around a firepit
I have spent many years since college visiting Ren Fest. I always favored the Pirate Weekend, and Time Travelers weekends for the costume potential. I cannot resist a good excuse for Steam Punk and pirates. My mother has always loved Highlands weekend and to celebrate our Scot/Irish heritage. I have watched how much this festival has grown, where cell service is non existent, because so many visitors overload the towers. It’s recommended you bring walkie talkies and have meetup plans just to accommodate the known spotty service issues. Discussing these issues with friends is how I learned that Brimstone and Fire had started a second faire that hasn’t blown up as much in popularity yet and was to give a similar experience with a lot less of the crowds.
Yultide Villiage, Season of Lights takes place on Friday and Saturday evenings from Late November to Mid December. This festival delivers a cold weather tribute to Pagan and Christmas traditions during the 16th century and aims to educate and delight any visitors. This year I got to visit for the first time.
The grand entrance to Renaissance Park donned with holiday lights
The first thing you notice is the transformation of the Willy Nilly-on-the-Wash as the Castle Entrance, buildings, trees, walkways, and bridges are covered in spectacular lights that beckon folks to slowly wander and take in the sight. Season of Lights is accurate and rivals the popular Festival of Lights we find at the local Zoos. With smaller space, and less animals (shoutout to the petting zoo!) they have created a fantastical atmosphere where the magic of the season is easier believed and lived.
The garden with the Lady of the Lake holding Excalibur decorated with holiday lights
Upon first walking in the gates, the great tree near the pond with my favorite statue of the Lady of the Lake holding Excalibur is draped in twinkling fairy lights, bringing a willow to my mind. The nearby garden transports me to many a book of fairy or elven villages and the descriptions of magic floating in the air and how it’s hard to tell if you’re awake or asleep as you take in the music and bustle of people and the stillness of the night.
I learned that the Yuletide Festival started as a light show two years ago from Destini Beard of Airbrush By Beard. They are one of the many shops wrapped in lights and fully ablaze as a Christmas market. Destini let me know that places like Florida has fests run all year round so it’s rare to make it to ones like this new one in Ohio. Their shop is selling gorgeous paintings and artwork that is detailed and handmade with care. They even have officially licensed game art from Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering. You can buy paintings to adorn your walls with fantasy themes.
Damsel in This Dress store front covered in holiday lights.
Another shop, Crimson Chain Leatherworks keeps a full time business out of Toledo, Ohio and a road crew that travels all over the states sharing their handmade leather items according to Angela French who spoke with me. They had a year with 50 stops, from Sherwood in Texas to shows in Michigan, Connecticut and of course Ohio. They do conventions and Ren Fairs all over the states. The shop in Toledo is a dedicated team hand making their wide variety of items. You can find potion bottles, journals, mugs, armor and more.
You can find a multitude of shops selling items from period clothing, jewelry, weaponry, home and garden items, and costumes. We found one shop doing blind present boxes with various items inside. The Christmas market has definitely grown in these shops. The entire park is not open for this event but the space that is open is strategically used to keep traffic flowing and constant things to stop and look at, buy or simply enjoy.
The Yuletide Express Train journeying down the street.
You can find stalls and shops that are selling warm foods. We saw options that were familiar like the turkey legs, mushrooms, potatoes and cookies, baked goods and alcohol. The notable catered items were the soup stations and hot chocolate vendors and commemorative travel mugs to give folks a warming treat to wander the grounds with and enjoy while taking in the various shows.
A performer with a cello.
We saw carolers, and various instrument groups at the few stages around the fair. They had Santa and Mrs. Claus available for photos, and the Yuletide Express giving a tour of the grounds in a festive though not period accurate train. You could spend a little extra for the Krampus and scary Christmas in the Brimstone Haunt. There were also fire pits and stations for buying smores or the cookies and cocoa walking tour to teach about the many Christmas characters and their stories.
A Christmas or Yule tree made of lights around a may pole.
The festivals of Yule from Viking and Pagan Cultures included feasting, drinking, songs, games, and sacrifices to gods and spirits. They had a Yule tree that was decorated with small statues of gods, clothes, and food. They burned a yule log for good vibes in the new year. This festival gives us many of these items to celebrate this time of year with a little capitalism and modern fun on top. Standing still and taking everything in with your eyes closed can help transport you to the 16th century but with so much to do and what felt like little time to do it in, I had to steal time to just soak it all in. This festival is great for families, couples, solos, and more that want to live for a little bit in Tudor England and believe in that holiday magic that is December.
