Mt. Hope Spring Home and Garden Show Draws Strong Crowd to Millersburg

Jody Witzky had been running the Holmes County Spring Home & Garden Show for nearly two decades, but the 2026 edition at the Mt. Hope Event Center gave him something genuinely new to work with: an expanded building that let him scale the vendor count from 205 to 310 and introduce a center stage for live cooking, grilling, and speaker demonstrations for the first time in the show's history.

The three-day event, held March 19-21 at the expo center on State Route 241 in Millersburg, drew a record number of vendors and visitors. The expanded floor filled the newly opened Dean Beachy Building addition, which Witzky credited with making the growth possible. The stage programming added a dimension previous shows had not offered, giving attendees a reason to linger beyond the vendor aisles.

The vendor mix reflected the character that distinguishes this show from larger urban counterparts. Amish-built cabinetry, custom kitchen furniture, handcrafted planters, and landscape services dominated the floor alongside home-improvement products timed to early-spring project cycles. "Many major towns have home and garden shows when spring is approaching," Witzky said, "but what makes us unique is the quality of finest craftsmanship, furniture and kitchen cabinetry that this area has long been known for."

That identity drives both attendance and commerce. The show draws tens of thousands of visitors annually from across Ohio and beyond, and this year's expanded format pulled day-trippers who paired attendance with stops in Berlin and Walnut Creek, adding foot traffic to restaurants and retail shops throughout the county. For small vendors, the orders and supplier relationships formed in March provide the revenue pipeline that sustains businesses through summer and fall seasons.

The show runs a three-day schedule each year: Thursday noon to 8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door, with children 16 and under admitted free. The Mt. Hope Event Center also hosted the Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show in January with more than 200 vendors, reinforcing the venue's role as Holmes County's most active event anchor through the winter-to-spring transition.

The 2026 attendance levels strengthen the case for additional shows at Mt. Hope throughout the year. Organizers have pointed to steady growth as justification for expanding the event calendar, and the Sportsman Show's January success gave the venue back-to-back momentum heading into the spring season.

Visitors planning ahead can reach the Mt. Hope Event Center at 8076 State Route 241 in Millersburg or call (330) 674-6188 for upcoming event schedules. Details on future shows are also posted at mthopeshows.com.