We love love love the Ohio Renaissance Festival. I’ve always loved it and my stepdad even made outfits for my sister, mom and I when we were little. But, this post isn’t about my embarrassingly awesome outfits as a pre-teen.
Celtic Fest Ohio is hosted one weekend a year at the Renaissance Park Event Center in Waynesville, Ohio. The venue is about 45 minutes south of Columbus. It’s a super easy little day trip no matter where you’re coming from in Columbus, Cincinnati, or Dayton.
We actually wrote about the Celtic Fest in our top ten summer festival list so we are super excited we were able to attend the event! The three day event features all things Celtic including food, music (lots of music!), a historical encampment, and even a sheep dog herding demo.
Honestly, any event that has food and animals sounds like a magical day to me. Poor little Baby O had to stay home for this one since it was parents day out. But, this event is definitely family friendly!
Let’s start with the most important aspect of any festival, the clothes. My stepdad (center) has been itching to get a kilt for the Dublin Irish Festival for years. When I told him about the Celtic Fest, he immediately purchased his off Etsy. We got him this wonderful GOT-inspired t-shirt for Father’s Day and I think it fit pretty perfectly.
The Beard has also been dying to get a kilt and it’s possible he will never wear real pants again. I mean there is a reason I wear sundresses as often as possible – pants suck, let’s just all admit that right now. You can check out his kilt here and grab one for yourself too, if you feel so inclined.
I just opted for a dress from Old Navy, it got the job done too.
My mom was also appropriately on theme with her green outfit and a female kilt, also known as a skirt. Also, it was SO HOT on the day we visited. Thanks, Ohio.
Enough about clothing, let’s get to the real meat of the Celtic Fest. There are so many awesome musical acts throughout the weekend. We saw bands such as the Disney-famous Off Kilter, Kansas City based, The Elders, and a slew of other awesome Celtic focused bands.
One of the reasons I love festivals like this is the enthusiasm that all attendees have for their performance, it’s so fun to get involved in the songs, costumes, and excitement from those around you.
If you are taking a break from the musical scene, you can easily head over to another stage to see performers like the Irish Step Dancers. I love watching them! It’s seriously mesmerizing and also, how do they kick and dance and smile and do it all perfectly? It’s possible this will be Baby O’s first organized athletic attempt.
In addition to all the fun music, there are some really fun and enjoyable boozy tastings. They have a few different time slots of a Magner’s Cider tasting and a Guinness tasting. We did both of them and they were equally fun and delicious.
For a fee of (I think) $15, you got several samples and then a full pint at the end! During the tasting, there were representatives from Magner’s and Guinness to give some history and explain some fun facts about their respective drinks. I actually only did about half the Guinness tasting because I was more interested in the food and hello, designated driver.
Obviously, my favorite part of Celtic Fest is the food. Fittingly, Celtic Fest was the same day as the Columbus Pride Festival so I felt like our rainbow cake was super appropriate. Although, apparently rainbow cake is a traditional Irish food. Whatever the reason, it was DELISH. I’m definitely going to recreate this on the recipe portion of this lovely blog. I’ll update with the recipe when I whip it up!
In addition to my delicious cake, we also got the fish and chips and I won’t lie, they were SO GOOD. We were both super impressed, the fish was flaky it was fried to perfection. Again, we need to whip up a recipe for fish and chips on the blog! It’s just so delicious.
My stepdad and mom were also with us and they got a giant loaded baked potato (nom) and some chicken tenders and tots. I feel like the potato is pretty on theme because ya know, Ireland and potatoes pretty much go together.
Last but not least, I saw some deliciously fresh donuts and had to snag a few. The cake donut was covered in cinnamon and sugar so really, it couldn’t be better.
We mentioned the boozy tastings but there are also several bars around the Renaissance Park that serve a really wide variety of beverages. The Beard really wanted a “Queen’s Tea” which was mead + cider and sweetly delicious. They had a really good variety of beer, like Warped Wing, Mad Tree, Ace, Bells, and Weyerbacher!
Prices are so reasonable, especially for a festival! Pints of beer run for about $6 and Bud Light style options are only $3. Just remember, don’t drink and drive folks – have a DD or order a Lyft.
Food, music, and drinking is cool and all but there are also some fun shops you can explore at the Celtic Fest! It’s all pretty on theme and makes for a fun souvenir to remember your visit. Also, there is a roaming pickle and jerky stand so that’s basically how I imagine heaven.
There you have it folks, the Celtic Fest Ohio! Did you go this year? What was your favorite part? We can’t wait til next year! Make sure to check out their website for details on all their events happening throughout the year.
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