Ashville Viking Festival
- Dates
- Expected April 2027
- Status
- Expected
- Venue
- Ashville Village Park (between Walnut and Park Streets)
- Price
- Free
- Camping
- None on site
- Last checked
- Aug 24, 2026
The experience
What's special
The Ashville Viking Festival is a free festival with a mission: admission costs nothing, but canned food donations are requested for the Ashville Food Pantry, a goal the event has met for over 15 years. Held the last weekend of April in the village park of Ashville, Ohio - about 30 minutes south of Columbus - it recreates a Viking All-Thing and pairs it with the Grove of Heroes, a living-history timeline spanning 2500 years from the legions of Rome to the mercenaries of the Holy Roman Empire. Three stages carry belly dance, music, juggling, fire breathing, magic, and birds of prey, a full-contact armored joust runs alongside a squire's challenge, and the juried Saxon Market sells wood carvings, textiles, furs, amber jewelry, and pewter. Its most distinctive touch is the Viking trade program, where children barter rocks, leaves, jokes, and smiles with vendors to learn money-free trade the old way.
What people love
Attendees describe a fun, low-hassle small-town festival that doesn't gouge on prices: the jousting and axe throwing are favorites, the vendor stalls draw praise for cool Viking goods at decent prices, kids are well served, and costume-watching - from serious Viking garb to Renaissance dress - is part of the day. Locals note its community roots as a fundraiser for the town food bank and treat it as the traditional season-opener for the region's faire circuit, with many of the same performers and vendors as the Ohio Renaissance Festival. The honest caveats: it is a small event - a park's worth of tents, live music, food like turkey legs and potato soup, and scheduled events - good for an afternoon rather than a full weekend, and historical purists note the time periods mix freely.
Last time around
The 2026 festival ran April 25-26 at the village park, with Twa Corbies, Viking Island Lady, Nimble Norsemen, and Afrit Temple playing the main stage and Skogarmaor among the acts. The canned-food drive filled the food pantry's nearly empty shelves to overflowing - about a trailer and three-quarters of donations, matching the previous year's haul and restocking the pantry for months.
See the grounds
On the lanes & stages
Set in the Viking-Age, Multi-Era periods. Event style: timeline-event.
Costumes & what to wear
Do I need a costume?
Dressing up is common and admired but entirely optional at this small free festival, and the costume culture is famously loose, attendees turn up in Viking garb, Renaissance-faire dress, and everything in between, with mixed time periods part of the charm. Weapons worn as costume pieces are allowed under the peace-tie rules, with the festival information table helping guests secure them
Weapons policy
Allowable weapons include axes, swords, daggers, knives, dirks, claymores, halberds, maces, hammers, spears, bows and arrows, and pikes. Except for approved reenactors, all weapons must be secured or peace-tied to the guest at all times in a holster protecting the blade and may not be removed. Any exposed blade or point must be stage-combat grade; costume arrows must be peace-tied together or have tips removed. The festival information table assists guests with securing weapons; unsafe weapons must go back to the vehicle or leave the festival
Joining in
Participation is built into the festival: children trade with vendors through the Viking trade program, learn axe throwing, and join a shield wall; guests can take hands-on pike training; and reenactors across the Grove of Heroes timeline invite questions about weapons, food, medicine, clothing, and daily life through the ages. Performer, reenactor, and vendor applications are all open to the public, and vendors are juried by a selection team
Getting there
Nearest airport CMH.
How do I get to Ashville Viking Festival?
By bus 1
Intercity coaches serve the downtown Columbus bus hub at 111 E Town St, about 22 miles north of Ashville, with no onward connection, no scheduled bus of any kind reaches Ashville or Pickaway County. Finish by rideshare or rental car
Book / info →Taxi & rideshare 1
Ashville is a village about 30 minutes south of Columbus, US-23 south to South Bloomfield, then State Route 316 two miles into town. At CMH, Uber and Lyft pick up on the arrivals level across the Arrivals drive at the ground-transportation area, where taxis also operate. Rideshare coverage in Ashville itself is sparse, so plan the return trip rather than counting on a quick pickup at the park
Book / info →By train
No direct passenger rail to the venue was found. Use the airport transfers or shuttle options above.
🅿 Parking
No on site parking. Use nearby lots or transit. Cost Free street parking. There is no festival parking lot, parking is on the streets surrounding the village park, a few blocks off Main Street via Walnut or Park Street. Arrive early on Saturday for a close spot; this is a free small-town event and the nearby blocks fill first
🚙 Car hire
Compare car hire at CMH
A rental car is the sensible option for fly-in visitors: Ashville has no transit link, street parking at the park is free, and the drive from the Columbus airport is barely half an hour
Search car hire →Live price search coming soon.
Where
Venue
Ashville Village Park (between Walnut and Park Streets)
Camping & Accommodation
Where can I stay near Ashville Viking Festival?
No on site camping. Here is where to stay nearby.
Budget stays 1
24517 US 23 S, Circleville, OH, about 15 minutes' drive to Ashville
≈ $75-100 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Mid-range hotels 2
5950 S High Street, Lockbourne, OH, about 12 minutes' drive to Ashville
≈ $110-150 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Circleville, OH, about 15 minutes' drive to Ashville
≈ $105-140 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Airbnb & private camping
Ashville itself has only a handful of rentals, but the wider Circleville-to-south-Columbus corridor offers farmhouse stays and suburban whole homes within 20 minutes. The festival's late-April weekend is low season locally, so finding a place is rarely a problem
Search Airbnb →A.W. Marion State Park, 15 minutes east of Ashville around Hargus Lake, has a small established campground, and Hipcamp lists private-land sites across the Pickaway County countryside, though late-April nights in central Ohio run cold, so pack accordingly
Search Hipcamp →Pricing
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