It’s official: Downtown Cincinnati and its neighbors will become illuminated once again for BLINK in October 2024.
BLINK, an immersive arts and light festival that spans from the Findlay Market area all the way across the river into Northern Kentucky, will run Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 17-20, kicking off with the traditional Illuminated By Parade on Oct. 17.
“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 Tuesday morning.
BLINK 2022 Executive Director Justin Brookhart will again be at the helm for the 2024 festival. Organizers say Brookhart’s organizational leadership skills and collaborative mindset 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.
“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 press conference.
BLINK is an experience that allows visitors the chance to interact with some of the world’s most innovative and engaging art throughout the city. Organizers say the biennial event has grown to be one of the largest art events in the world and the nation’s largest light, art and projection-mapping experience.
“Sitting solidly at the crossover between digital and physical, BLINK draws both artists and attendees from all over the globe to experience truly immersive art amidst the familiar cityscape,” organizers said in a press release.
In 2022, BLINK hosted 71 artists from around the world – including 32 local artists – and drew about 2.1 million attendees from 29 different states and had an economic impact of $126 million.
“Anytime you can do something that focuses on arts and culture and inclusion in our community that brings in economic impact, this can drive the future of Cincinnati,” Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber.
While a call for artists won’t go out until September, organizers already have some ideas in mind for 2024, including the return of projection mapping to Music Hall, something that hasn’t happened since BLINK’s forebear Lumenocity in 2016.
“We’re very excited to announce we’ll be showing off this beautiful, architecturally historic building,” Brookhart said. “We have lots of fun news and ideas on how we’re going to show off this icon on a grand scale next year.”
Also new for the fourth edition of BLINK is a call to property owners who may want to participate. BLINK co-founder and managing partner of AGAR Andrew Salzbrun says they want to hear from property owners who may have a good wall for a mural or a parking lot perfect for an installation.
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