It’s finally fall! The weather is becoming more mild and the leaves will soon turn gorgeous shades of red, yellow and orange. It’s a great time for getting out of the house and enjoying the autumn air.
If you’re a senior living in Cincinnati, there are plenty of fun events you’ll want to pencil in on your calendar this fall. Today, let’s take a look at four of our favorites.
1. Check out the Ohio Renaissance Festival
The Ohio Renaissance Festival takes place every weekend from now until Oct. 23 on its campus in Harveysburg, about 35 miles north of Cincinnati. The “Ren Fest” centers on a late medieval English countryside village. It features nearly 100 daily shows across 11 stages, including a jousting tournament between real, armored knights.
In addition to taking in the shows, seniors can browse artisans’ shops, including a glassmaker, a tanner and a cobbler. 
There’s even a working blacksmith’s shop. There are also 150 costumed performers to interact with and 30 acres to roam, so there’s plenty to keep you entertained.
Each weekend at Ren Fest has a particular theme, so you can go back several times and get a different experience each time!
Oct. 1-2 will be “Rebels, Rogues & Revelers” weekend, celebrating ne’er-do-wells and rapscallions of all manner. Oct. 8-9 is “Highland Weekend,” during which you can enjoy Highland games-style entertainment, kilt-wearing pageants and traditional pipers. And Oct. 15-16 will celebrate Sweetest Day, with a Romance Weekend theme.
2. Enjoy the sunflowers
Over at the Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale, the 13th annual Sunflower Festival runs Oct. 1-2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. It includes local food trucks, crafts, live music and more.
You can stroll the sunflower fields on a working, living history farm that was originally founded in 1835. Collect a few sunflowers to purchase and take home — the roasted seeds make wonderful, healthy snacks! There’s even a sunflower maze to lose yourself in.
Be sure to bring your grandkids. They can pick their own pumpkins! Then you can take a hayride and visit the farm animals.
3. It’s the Great Pumpkin! (And a Haunt-ing good time)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first TV airing of “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!,” and what better way to celebrate than taking the grandkids up to Kings Island’s Planet Snoopy area for its Great Pumpkin Fest?
Kings Island’s annual daytime fall festival is a wonderful family fun event, held on Saturdays and Sundays in October. It includes non-scary Halloween-themed live shows, a pumpkin patch, a hay bale maze, trick-or-treating and a petting farm. Rides are also open during the festival.
Or, if you have older grandchildren and a strong backbone, you can stick around for the nighttime Haunt event. It’s not geared for the squeamish or the faint-hearted, but if you’re in the mood for a good scare, this is your ticket.
4. Have a drink
Here in Cincinnati, seniors who fancy a drink can take advantage of our proximity to the Bluegrass State, the center of the bourbon universe. And if bourbon is your thing, you should consider visiting Covington MainStrasse’s annual Oak, Toast & Two Aging Barrels festival, which will take place Oct. 7-9.
Seniors can sip at a variety of tasting stations, learn about the ancient art of distilling in a number of interesting seminars and hear keynote speeches by local master distillers. There will also be live music and food.
And on Sunday, Oct. 9, the event closes with a fabulous cocktail brunch. Come have a classic Manhattan and toast the region’s bourbon heritage!
These are just a few of the fun fall events taking place in and around the Queen City.
Seniors have plenty of events to choose from this autumn. Try the suggestions above, or search Google or the Cincinnati Enquirer for more ideas.
Then, gather your friends and family and get out of the house. There’ll be plenty of time for staying indoors over the long, cold winter.
