Columbus has a city of 938,396 people and one institution that sets the rhythm of the year for a large share of them. Ohio State's Columbus campus enrolled 62,010 students in autumn 2026, a record, and the university's published calendar tells you exactly when those students arrive, when classes begin and when commencement is held. The calendar for 2027 is already posted: spring classes begin on Jan. 11, commencement is on Sunday, May 9, and autumn classes begin on Aug. 24. In between, the Columbus Arts Festival takes over downtown on June 11 to 13, 2027. This page lists those dates from the organizers' own sites, what the university has and has not published about football, and a gift tier plan that starts and ends with each window. Home football dates for 2027 are not posted, so that window stays month level and says so.
Start a two-step tier on the first day of spring classes and set it to end that Sunday. Put a small gift at the first level and a larger one at the next, and cap the stock before you launch.
Run a commencement and Mother's Day tier that ends on your delivery cutoff, not on May 9. The calendar shows commencement on Sunday, May 9, and federal law makes the same day Mother's Day.
Schedule a three-day festival tier that starts when the festival starts and stops when it stops, with a gift count you can verify at the end of the weekend.
Source: Columbus Arts Festival (Greater Columbus Arts Council)
Open a move-in tier a week ahead of the first day of autumn classes and end it on Aug. 24. Choose gifts that are small and light, since a gift that adds weight changes the parcel's postage.
Ohio State lists seven home games in 2026 and no 2027 schedule yet, so plan a month-level fall tier now and set exact Saturdays the day the university posts them. Keep the gift count tied to the number of home dates.
Build it with the Gift tiers template.
Requires: Growth plan or higher.
Open a two-step gift tier on the day classes begin, Monday, Jan. 11, 2027, and close it at the end of that week. A student returning to a room or apartment may restock several things in one order, which is the kind of cart a gift tier can lift.
Spring commencement and Mother's Day fall on the same Sunday, May 9, 2027, so one dated tier can serve both gift buyers. End the offer on your own order cutoff, which has to be earlier than May 9 to deliver, and use the shipping schedule in our Mother's Day post to work it out.
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office: 36 U.S.C. 117, Mother's Day
Tie a small-gift tier to the festival's three days, June 11 to 13, 2027. A window that short lets you count the gifts you need and cap the stock, and the local theme makes the banner easy to write without any claim about attendance.
Source: Columbus Arts Festival (Greater Columbus Arts Council)
Autumn semester classes begin on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2027, so schedule a gift tier for the week before. With a record 62,010 students on the Columbus campus this autumn, that is the largest single group a Columbus offer can address, though only your own order data shows how many of them buy from you.
One large university calendar and one downtown arts festival give Columbus a set of dated windows with a known start and end, which suits a gift tier with a hard stop and a capped stock of gifts.
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate for July 1, 2025 puts the city of Columbus at 938,396 residents, the most of any city in Ohio; Cleveland is second at 363,608.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates (SUB-EST2025) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Ohio State's release of September 21, 2026, based on its autumn 2026 enrollment census, reports Columbus campus enrollment of 62,010 students, a record high and 1.1 percent above the prior year, within a university-wide total of 68,183.
The Ohio State University: Ohio State increases total enrollment to 68,183 students (September 21, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The registrar's five-year calendar lists the first day of spring 2027 semester and first-session classes as Monday, January 11, 2027.
The Ohio State University Office of the University Registrar: Academic Calendar, 5-year view (2023-2028), last updated March 3, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
The same calendar lists spring commencement for 2027 as Sunday, May 9, 2027, and autumn commencement for 2027 as Sunday, December 19, 2027.
The Ohio State University Office of the University Registrar: Academic Calendar, 5-year view (2023-2028), last updated March 3, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
The calendar lists the first day of autumn 2027 semester and first-session classes as Tuesday, August 24, 2027.
The Ohio State University Office of the University Registrar: Academic Calendar, 5-year view (2023-2028), last updated March 3, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Columbus Arts Festival's website shows its 2027 dates as June 11, 12 and 13, 2027.
Columbus Arts Festival (Greater Columbus Arts Council) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Ohio State's football schedule page shows seven home games in Columbus in 2026, from September 5 against Ball State to November 28 against Michigan at noon, and shows no 2027 schedule yet.
Ohio State Athletics: 2026 football schedule (accessed October 10, 2026)
Federal law says the second Sunday in May is Mother's Day, which makes May 9, 2027 both Mother's Day and the day of Ohio State's spring commencement.
U.S. Government Publishing Office: 36 U.S.C. 117, Mother's Day (accessed October 10, 2026)
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.
Requires: Growth plan or higher.
