Some would say Tom Nader is a Renaissance man. He’s been jousting for more than 20 years.
“I love the horses. I love the challenge of it all,” said Nader, the costume director and a jouster at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. “There’s something primal about getting to get on a horse and smack one of your friends as hard as you can and not get in trouble for it.”
He’s a lover of art, history and theatre and has been fascinated with the Middle Ages since college.
“My best class was art history during the Renaissance period, imagine that,” Nader said. “If it was a book I read it, if it was a movie, I saw it.”
Tom Nader in his custom-made armor. (Spectrum News 1/Taylor Bruck)
He and his friends live as if it’s the 16th century.
“Some people call it an act of stupidity, but I enjoy everything about it, I really do,” Nader said.
Nader was born in Cincinnati and travels to Renaissance festivals all over, but said there’s something special about the festival in Ohio.
“This is the magic this is, this is where my family is,” Nader said. “This is where my friends are.”
He said stamp collecting is a hobby, but you don’t just try jousting. Jousting is a lifetime endeavor. He said it takes years of learning about aspects including MMA and taking care of horses and armor to be able to properly joust. His armor is custom-made for him and so is most of the equipment he uses.
“I’m wearing 15th-century German Gothic armor,” Nader said. “My armor weighs about 85 pounds with the helmet and the shield. The current replacement value for a suit of armor like I’m wearing is almost $30,000.”
For 34 years, the Ohio Renaissance Festival has been bringing the people of Ohio and beyond back in time. A 40-acre 16th-century English village allows people to step out of the mundane and into a fantasy world.
“The 16th century when life was a little slower, a little bit more grand and a whole lot more fascinating than, you know, sitting there looking at your phone.”
Rob Williams and Casey Martin perform their show, Kamikaze Fireflies. (Spectrum News 1/Taylor Bruck)
World-renowned acts like the Kamikaze Fireflies and local favorites like the Cincinnati Barbarians put on more than 100 shows a day for people to enjoy.
“You can see lots of big stunts, lots of funny things. We get inside of a German wheel and spin around. And we’ve got some Guinness World Record tricks that we do,” said Casey Martin, one-half of the Kamikaze Fireflies. “We’re all just a bunch of geeks playing dress up in the woods together out here. It’s just a big party where you can have a good time and get a little silly.”
They said whatever you think is out here, there’s a little bit more and they want you to come see it for yourself.
“I hope they feel the energy,” Nader said. “I hope they feel the magic that we all see when we’re here. We see it from a different set of eyes than they do but the magic we get is seeing them explore all of this and see it for the first time and fall in love with it the way we did.”
The Ohio Renaissance Festival is now open on weekends from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. through the end of October. For more information you can visit here.
Here’s a look at more events around the Buckeye State:
Cleveland
OktoberFest
- Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds
- Sept. 8-9
- Find more details here
The 35th annual Lakewood Community Festival
- Madison Park
- Sept. 9
- Find more details here
The Black Swamp Arts Festival
- Bowling Green
- Sept. 8-10
- Find more details here
Columbus
Columbus Octoberfest
- Ohio State Fair Grounds
- Sept. 8-10
- Find more details here
The Ohio River Sternwheel Festival
- Marietta,
- Sept. 8-10
- Find more details here
The Marion Popcorn Festival
- Downtown Marion
- Sept. 8-9
- Find more details here
Cincinnati
Cincinnati Zoo First Responder Days
- Sept. 8-11
- Find more details here
- Vinoklet Winery & Restaurant
- Sept. 8-10
- Find more details here
