The Ohio Renaissance Festival expects more than 300,000 visitors this fall, a new attendance record for the Waynesville grounds 17 miles from downtown Mason. The 2026 season opened Saturday, Sept. 5, and runs weekends through Nov. 1.
That would be a new high for the festival, which has more than doubled attendance since 2015, when 145,000 people visited. More than 285,000 came in 2025, according to Axios North of Cincy.
Marketing director Cheryl Bales, who started at the festival more than 25 years ago as a part-time college intern and never left, told Axios the growth tracks with fantasy and pop-culture fandoms going mainstream. Think Game of Thrones, steampunk, tabletop gaming and pirate culture.
"People really seem to appreciate having the ability to just kind of get away (from reality) for a while," Bales told Axios on Sept. 3.
The 30-acre grounds at 10542 E. State Route 73 hold 215 shops and more than 100 shows across 22 stages. Visitors can watch full-contact armored fights, catch a whip demonstration or cheer on jousting knights. Gates open 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 1.
An ownership change in 2015 brought investments in entertainment, food and amenities, including flushable toilets.
Warren County tourism boost
The festival is one of several attractions fueling Warren County's tourism economy. An estimated 14.19 million people visited the county's parks and attractions in 2025, generating a record $1.74 billion in economic impact, a 3% increase from the last study in 2023, according to a Tourism Economics study reported by the Dayton Daily News. That spending supported more than 14,000 jobs, $425 million in wages and $229 million in federal, state and local taxes.
Scott Hutchinson, spokesperson for the Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau, told Axios on Sept. 3 that the tourism season used to revolve around Kings Island's spring opening and summer closing and the Cincinnati Open. Fall attractions like the Renaissance Festival are helping make the county a year-round destination.
Phillip Smith, president and CEO of the visitors bureau, told the Dayton Daily News in June that the county's tourism industry "is thriving and continuing to grow."
Ticket prices are not listed in available sources. The festival's full schedule and pricing are at renfestival.com.
