Columbus Experiences
Experience Columbus in a whole new way by adding one of these exciting tours to your registration.
City Tour with Artisan Experience and Beer Tasting
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Get to know the clean and green city of Columbus! You’ll start at the Candle Lab, where you’ll perfect your own signature scent to create a custom candle to take home. Then you’ll embark on an entertaining city tour full of art, architecture, history, industry, and fun facts about Columbus’ contributions to the world. Finish the adventure at Barley’s Brewing Company, Columbus’ longest-operating brewer, for a tasting of some of the nation’s most recognized traditional-style ales.
Ohio State Buckeye for a Day
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Don’t you just love the thrill of a fast-paced, hard-hitting college football game? This is the tour for you! Find out what it’s like to be part of a top Big Ten football team as you step inside the storied history of Buckeye football for a guided tour of Ohio Stadium (affectionately known as the Horseshoe), including the field, recruit room, press box and more. Expect a surprise or two from special guests!
Explore a Place in History: German Village
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Step back in history with a stroll through German Village. This entire urban neighborhood—from the brick-paved streets to the slate-tiled church spire—was built in the mid-1800s. You’ll explore the quaint, tree-lined streets and houses with a charming and knowledgeable guide. Learn how the neighborhood developed and flourished, and later had to be saved from demolition by a passionate group of residents. Then a local citizen will open their doors to you for a tour of their home and garden. Explore the 32 rooms of the Book Loft, one of the nation’s largest (and most amazing) bookstores or peruse handcrafted items in The Golden Hobby Gift Shop. This will be an experience not easily forgotten.
Up Close with Extraordinary Art: Architecture, Plants, and Handblown Glass
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Prepare for an extraordinary day when you enter the immense and breathtakingly beautiful Victorian-era glass building of the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. You’ll wander through gardens of plant life from around the world and see larger-than-life technicolor sculptures by world-renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly. Release a newly metamorphosed butterfly into a tropical biodome where live butterflies of all colors and sizes fill the air around you. Next, you’ll travel to Topiary Park and stroll through a living botanical sculpture that depicts Georges Seurat’s post-impressionist painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte.” This experience will be absolutely unforgettable and unequivocally one-of-a-kind.
Tour and Taste: Watershed Distillery and Brothers Drake Meadery
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
If you’ve got the spirit for spectacular spirits, don’t miss this experience! You’ll tour the award-winning Watershed Distillery and get to know their process and their spirits, from grain to bottle. Start in the green room and learn of their humble beginnings and adventurous founders, then journey into a barrel fort to get fully immersed in the aging process. Flow through the distillery and bottling line, all while tasting the spirits right where they’re made. Then you’ll head to Brothers Drake Meadery, where they’ve been setting the standard for craft alcohol made from honey ten years running. The charming facility produces close to 10,000 gallons of mead per year.
Meet the Makers in Franklinton, Columbus’ Innovation District
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Come see what the next generation of artists and makers is delivering to the world. Tour the largest makerspace on the planet, the Columbus Idea Foundry. You’ll see state-of-the-art equipment, from 3D printers and laser cutters to virtual reality instruments, in this ecosystem where more than 220 small businesses thrive. Cross the street to 400 West Rich, where more than 140 Columbus-based artists, craftspeople, designers, and performers work and create. Enjoy an aerial dance demonstration and try your hand at the ukulele. Afterwards, see the brewing facilities at Columbus-built Land Grant Brewery and top off your experience with an award-winning craft beer. Cheers to innovation!
View the City by Kayak
Saturday, August 10, 1:30–4:00 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Enjoy dazzling views of Columbus from a kayak on the Scioto River. We'll drop in at Confluence Park and paddle leisurely downriver through the spectacular Scioto Mile waterfront to the Scioto Audubon. You’ll enjoy unhindered views of some of Columbus’ most breathtaking architectural attractions—including the organic slopes of the brand-new National Vets Memorial and Museum, hailed as stunningly beautiful and important by Architectural Digest. Take in the gleaming alabaster marble art deco façade of the immense Ohio Supreme Court building. Float under the Main Street Bridge, which is the only bridge on the continent to use an inclined single-rib-tied arch superstructure. Enjoy this chance to exercise, catch some sun and enjoy the city from a new angle.
Uncover the Fantasy of the Theatre: Ohio Theatre and BalletMet
Tuesday, August 13, 2:45–5:15 p.m.
Capacity: 50 people
Are you inspired by the magic of the theatre and the beauty and grace of ballet? Don’t miss a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go behind-the-scenes at the awe-inspiring Ohio Theatre. The ornate 1928 movie palace, one of the nation’s finest surviving grand theatres, was designed to give patrons respite from their daily lives with its luxurious, Spanish Baroque-style fantasy atmosphere inside. You’ll be awed by a presentation of the mighty Morton Organ and a state-of-the-arts light show, before going backstage for a magical tour of the costume shop of BalletMet, Columbus’ highly regarded professional ballet company and school.
Separate registration fee required.