It’s a kid-friendly festival, with games of skill and humanpowered Crow’s Nest and Sea Dragon rides. — JAMIE RHEIN
Ohio Renaissance Festival, Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 a.m.– 6 p.m., Sept. 1–Oct. 28, 2018; order discounted tickets from the website or pay at the gate. www.renfestival.com.
Washboard Music Festival, Logan
What do your great-grandparents, John Lennon, and the Hocking Hills have in common? Washboards, of course. Back in the proverbial good old days, washboards were a household staple. Americans used their corrugated metal surfaces not only for rubbing clothes clean, but also for making music. The style of music created on washboards and other improvised instruments — including spoons, jugs, and cowbells — is called skiffle, which blends elements of American folk, jazz, blues, country, and other sounds. In the 1950s, skiffle was all the rage in England, and none other than future Beatle John Lennon started a skiffle band, complete with a washboard player. Today, the last U.S. washboard manufacturer — the Columbus Washboard Company — is in downtown Logan, where, fittingly enough, the nation’s only festival dedicated to washboard music takes place every Father’s Day weekend. The event’s unique repertoire of toe-tapping entertainment includes such acts as the Steel City Rovers (Celtic), The Wayfarers (Appalachian fiddle songs), Little Roy & Lizzie (traditional bluegrass), and Washboard Hank, a popular Canadian artist who plays country and contemporary tunes on instruments that include a banjo, guitar, kazoo, and his famous “Stradivarius Washboard.” — DAMAINE VONADA
Washboard Music Festival, June 14–16, 2018; 740-277-1806, www.washboardmusicfestival.com
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