In mid-October, Cincinnati will once again be awash in the glow of colorful murals, shimmering light displays and vibrant art installations as BLINK returns with more of, well, everything — more artists, more artworks, more events and a bigger footprint than ever before. From Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine to Covington in Kentucky and now in Newport, this immersive lights and arts festival will transform the Queen City into an imaginative and vivid playground of creativity that will fuel all the senses and draw an estimated crowd of millions to Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s urban cores.
BLINK 2024 will run Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 17-20, kicking off with the traditional parade on Oct. 17. This is the fourth iteration of the festival, which started in 2017 and has grown to become one of the largest art events in the world and the nation’s largest light, art and projection-mapping experience. At BLINK, visitors can interact with some of the world’s most innovative and engaging art throughout the city — all for free.
“We are so excited at the city to continue this tradition, to continue this incredible international event that continues to put Cincinnati on the map,” Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said at a press conference in July 2023, when BLINK’s return was announced.
BLINK 2022’s executive director, Justin Brookhart, is again at the helm for the 2024 festival. Organizers say Brookhart’s organizational leadership skills and collaborative mindset for the 2022 event opened the public art spectacle to a wider audience and helped celebrate everything Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and the art world at large have to offer. Over 2 million people from 29 states attended BLINK in 2022, and it created an estimated direct economic impact of $126 million. The event also supported or created nearly 1,700 jobs and generated $1.5 million in direct artist commissions, honorariums and art fees.
“This is an event where the community shows up and we also bring people here and show them what we do well, which is a sense of community, inclusion and art innovation,” Brookhart said at the July 2023 press conference.
Meet the artists
In 2022, BLINK hosted 71 artists from around the world, including 32 local artists. For the 2024 festival, the BLINK team received over 900 submissions from artists on nearly every continent; the final list was whittled down to just over 80 projects, with another 32 local artists included in the lineup. For reference, BLINK 2022 received 250 submissions.
Amy Fitzgibbons, the vice president of marketing with Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, is handling marketing for BLINK. She says a curatorial team was brought in to help with the artist selection, so there were more voices in the room when it came to selecting artists and projects versus the 2022 event.
“It was still really important for us — even though BLINK has gotten a lot of international recognition, which is amazing — 40% of our key artists are still local. And there’s a lot of collaboration happening between the local and the international artists,” Fitzgibbons told CityBeat. “Being able to bring those pieces together, I think, was really important to the team as well.”
Fitzgibbons added that there was also a lot more intention in selecting artists for the 2024 event versus the 2022 one.
“It was more about having the time to really curate and be thoughtful, whereas in 2022, with COVID and everything, that was a time where it came together really quickly because the team wanted to make sure it happened and we didn’t lose the momentum of the event moving forward. I think there is a real intention behind a lot of the projects and the thinking and the curation that they’re bringing,” she said.
“I’ve been fortunate to have the gift of time to really be intentional about what BLINK is and can be,” Brookhart said in a press release announcing the artist lineup. “We want it centered around the artists and our regional community. From the opening ceremonies, to the artwork, to the parties we hope people will throw, BLINK embraces all of who we are.”
Among the projects, BLINK 2024 will add 15 new permanent murals along the 2024 footprint. Visitors will also be able to enjoy 70 light-based art and projection mapping installations.
Local contributing artists include Gee Horton, who has collaborated with other muralists but has never painted his own mural — until now, that is, according to Fitzgibbons. Just north of Liberty Street, in an area undergoing major changes, Horton will bring his mural series depicting another kind of change — adolescence — together for BLINK audiences. He’ll also be working with Chroma Projects’ Matt Dayler, who will help bring the mural to life from a production standpoint, and Greg D'Amico, who will do the projection and light work on one of the series' murals.
Seasoned BLINK apprentice Javarri Lewis will be stepping into the spotlight to work on a mural of his own with the incomparable muralist William Rankins Jr., who painted the famous mural of Barack Obama over Ollie’s Trolley in the West End. While Rankins has been losing his vision, Fitzgibbons says he still wanted to be involved in BLINK.
“(He) still wanted to do something, wanted to have another work of his be a lasting impression in the neighborhood because a lot of his work has been painted over,” said Fitzgibbons.
Kemper Sauce Studios is returning to BLINK for a third year with its largest project to date. Its piece, Arcade of Light, was shown in Covington in 2022 and Washington Park in 2019 and will now be displayed in Mellotone Beer Project, the new brewery opening in the former Taft's Ale House space on Race Street.
Some fan-favorite installations returning this year include Dan Shields’ String Theory, which will be at Findlay Market, as well as the illuminated Toy Heritage mural on Court Street. Asianati is also bringing back its popular Night Market. This activation will transform Court Street Plaza into a bustling, authentic Asian-style night market, complete with street-style cuisine from local Asian restaurants, as well as immersive visual elements like colorful lanterns and art installations that were inspired by traditional night markets.
Student artists and technicians from local and regional programs like the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Columbus College of Art and Design, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) will also be participating in BLINK.
What’s new at BLINK
In April, BLINK organizers and local leaders in government and tourism gathered at Newport on the Levee to reveal the festival would also be activated in Newport for the first time this year, thanks to an investment from Northern Kentucky's tourism and convention services bureau, meetNKY. BLINK hadn’t expanded its footprint since the 2019 addition of Covington, but now it would span three cities, the Ohio River and over 30 city blocks.
“I love the fact that the communities in this region have a little bit different of a vibe in every place, so we are going to activate that in a uniquely Newport way this year,” Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said at the press conference.
Brookhart says the goal of expanding into Newport is to continue to evolve the festival into a truly regional event that showcases the cultural vibrancy of all of Greater Cincinnati’s communities.
“BLINK weekend is a really special time of the year where people come together to celebrate the creativity and spectacle of large-scale public art. We're excited to bring our special brand of art and technology to some of the cultural institutions and historic sites here in Covington and in Newport,” he said at the time.
While Newport’s full activation is still being planned, Fitzgibbons tells CityBeat that the wall by the Newport Aquarium will feature an installation you’ll be able to see from the other side of the river. And the Thompson House, a live music venue on Third Street, will be lit with an installation called “Biomimicry” by Hotaru Visual Guerrilla, an art and design studio from Gipuzkoa, Spain.
Fitzgibbons says they’re also planning a fun hospitality area with food trucks and family-friendly activities around Ovation and the new boardwalk. Part of the challenge in planning that, however, has been the construction.
“We’re really trying to think through how to connect Covington and Newport. ... so really just trying to think through what the best kind of walking path will be,” Fitzgibbons said. “And it’s a matter of helping people find [the Newport BLINK exhibits]. We want to make sure that it’s not too hidden and have a path of exhibits that people can walk through and find their way easily.”
And in Newport, even as the lights of BLINK go down, the fun will continue with the festival’s first-ever official afterparty. “afterglow” will take place at MegaCorp Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 19 following regular BLINK programming.
“On Saturday night, MegaCorp Pavilion will transform into an indoor installation, offering an immersive light and dance experience. We look forward to continuing the tradition of BLINK by creating new and exciting experiences together,” Josh Heuser, founder of AGAR — an executive partner of BLINK — said in a press release.
In addition to keeping the party going, afterglow will also celebrate the artists who are making the festival possible, as well as the inspiration the festival draws from music, culture and dance. Guests can expect music, food and dancing, with musician and DJ Austin Millz, best known for his larger-than-life stage presence and fusion of hip-hop and electronic music, headlining.
afterglow is open to anyone 21 or older, and doors will open at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. Tickets are on sale now for $30 at promowestlive.com, and it’s the only BLINK event that will require a ticket for entry.
The Lumenocity-esque exhibit
If you were around Cincinnati from 2013 to 2016, you may have caught BLINK’s predecessor, Lumenocity. The event, put on by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), featured projection mapping on Music Hall (and in Taft Theatre its final year) and was accompanied by music from Cincinnati Pops.
BLINK expanded on Lumenocity’s concept the following year, featuring 35 light-based installations, 22 projection sites and 10 murals, but Music Hall remained unlit through the last three iterations of the festival. This year, however, that will change as projection mapping returns to the historic building.
“We’re very excited to announce we’ll be showing off this beautiful, architecturally historic building,” Brookhart said in 2023 at BLINK’s announcement. “We have lots of fun news and ideas on how we’re going to show off this icon on a grand scale.”
Three different groups of artists will light up Music Hall during BLINK’s 2024 run, including two local groups. Chaske Haverkos, who co-owns Brown Bear Bakery in OTR and is a lighting designer on the side, is one of those artists. He’s working with an OTR music studio to do a live collaboration to combine his projection art with music.
Lightborne, a local film production house that also worked on Lumenocity, will also do a piece on Music Hall, and Fitzgibbons says it's working to license music from the CSO.
“I think it was something really important to bring back to BLINK, and it was a matter of finding the right artists and the right submissions to figure that out,” said Fitzgibbons.
The parade
And, of course, it wouldn’t be BLINK without the traditional parade, which features thousands of people — from artists and art institutions to community, cultural and youth groups — lighting up the night with illuminated costumes, props, sculptures and more. Fitzgibbons says they’ll once again have around 3,000 people taking part in the parade, celebrating this year’s theme “Shine Your Light.”
“The idea is collective joy and what we can do when we come together as a community,” she explained.
Fitzgibbons says they’re talking about the artists being the grand marshals of the parade, which BLINK has never done before. It’s also currently in the process of finding its torchbearers, nominations for which opened in August, with winners to be announced in late September.
Details of the parade, including the start time and route, will be announced closer to the event.
What you need to know when you go
So with all that said, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of how you can enjoy the best BLINK experience possible. First off, the event is completely free and open to the public. It’s family-friendly too, so feel free to bring your kids, your grandma, your out-of-town cousins — anyone. The only request is to leave your pets at home due to the large crowds expected and the time of day BLINK is held.
As for getting there, keep in mind that many of the streets in BLINK’s footprint will be closed to vehicle traffic. BLINK will provide an updated list of road closures as we get closer to the event. If you’re driving to BLINK, parking garages outside the footprint will be open and have event pricing. You can also utilize public transportation via Metro or TANK buses.
When it comes to getting from installation to installation, organizers say to pace yourself. BLINK is best seen on foot and meant to be enjoyed over the full four days of the event, not all in one night. Exhibits will be set up in “zones” to help you navigate what you can reasonably see in certain parts of the footprint. If you’re in downtown Cincinnati or Over-the-Rhine, the streetcar will be running and is free to use. BLINK will also be releasing a map of all the exhibits to help you plan your route.
You also don’t need to start your BLINK experience at a certain location or time. Most exhibits will remain the same throughout the festival, and most displays run for three to eight minutes on a continuous loop. Any special showtimes or performances, particularly on BLINK’s stages, will be announced closer to the event.
You can stay updated at blinkcincinnati.com or on BLINK’s social media channels.
