On the third weekend in October, I had the pleasure of visiting one of Greater Cincinnati’s most well-known attractions, BLINK, the nation’s largest immersive light and art festival.
The festival spanned from Thursday, Oct. 17 — kicking off with the BLINK parade — to Sunday, Oct. 20, and featured illuminated murals, projected installations, light sculptures and live entertainment across more than 35 blocks in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
I was able to head down to BLINK on Sunday, and worked my way across the downtown area, Ziegler Park, Washington Park and even to Newport on the Levee to check out the newest extension of BLINK into Newport, which proved to be a perfect location for those who don’t want to get stuck in downtown traffic.
As BLINKgoers make their way downtown, they get their first taste of BLINK before they even get out of their cars. I parked near the 21C Museum Hotel, and as I got a glimpse of the skyline and buildings we were passing, I was already impressed.
I decided the most advantageous route would be to head down Walnut Street, towards Paycor Stadium, and boy was I right. I passed the Contemporary Art Center (CAC), which had a beautiful and impressive projection across the entire building, with accompanying music. As you walked past, the inside of CAC was adorned with eye-catching decorations.
The Aronoff Center was personally one of my favorites to view. The entire building was transformed into The Aronoff Oasis, a grid of various colors, but I got lucky and was able to get a light show of the perfect shades of pink and red. As if it couldn’t get any better, as we stood on the corner, the most beautiful music filled my ears: “Bye, Bye, Bye” by NSYNC. I mean, come on — does it get any more iconic than that? Actually, yes, it does. Because immediately following, my ears were blessed to hear “Popular” from the hit musical Wicked just as the building transitioned back to pink, which I took as an homage to the iconic character Glenda, but if I’m wrong — don’t tell me.
I kept walking down, in seemingly perfect weather, and was consistently surprised at the size of the crowds. I think I had been anticipating less people, due to it being the final day of BLINK, but was definitely proved wrong. From what I could see, there were easily hundreds of people just between Fountain Square and Paycor Stadium.
I noticed a majority of the crowd coming to a stop near Fountain Square, so I knew I had to check it out. The square was turned into a full-blown immersive experience, entitled OPEN by Fifth Third, B!G ART and Le Cirque de la Nuit. And honestly, it gave me a childlike joy. There were “doors” that viewers could open and view a moving light projection inside, some showing city skylines or space. The main attraction was a giant arch with an immersive, moving light show. The screen casted hues of blue, yellow, red, pink and green that resembled the inside of a lava lamp, and was giving me all the Y2K feels. I watched children, teens and adults make their way through the arch, all just as impressed as the person before them. This was definitely a crowd favorite, and I hope this makes its return for the next BLINK festival.
I decided to head towards Court Street, and was able to get a view of the iconic Kroger building, which was transformed into Future Facades by Derek Abbott, a large-scale projection artist who specializes in live concert performances. The building had projections of various lines and dotted patterns. It was cool, but I definitely was expecting a bit more from Kroger, being such a well-known Cincinnati company.
Additionally, I was able to check out the Asianati Night Market, and grab a treat from Boba Cha, one of my favorite stops in the Greater Cincinnati area. The night market was a huge crowd pleaser, and even had a groundbreaking 800,000 visitors over the weekend, generating $125,000 in sales for AAPI-owned local businesses, according to a press release from Asianati.
I was also thoroughly impressed with the BLINK Dynamic Map that allowed you to select your zone of choice, and see right from your phone all of the different attractions, murals and live performances that were nearby, which allowed us to see that Sunshine Sessions, a popular Cincinnati collective of House DJs, would be playing in Ziegler Park.
As I made my way from downtown to Over-the-Rhine, I was able to stop at a few different alleys that had been transformed for BLINK. The Cathedral by Evan Verrilli took the number one spot for me, with the vivid red lighting and linework; the simplicity of it paved the way for viewers to interpret the piece however they chose. Overall, I wish more alleys had been transformed into attractions to keep those walking longer distances engaged.
Ziegler Park, though it was a super cool spot, definitely didn’t reach the attendance I had hoped it would. Sunshine Sessions hosted five different house-style DJs from 6-11 p.m., as well as a bar serving seltzers, beers and various non-alcoholic options. When I arrived around 9 p.m., there were only around 15 people, but the energy was still great. Everyone was really enjoying the music, and this seemed to be a good relaxing spot for families and couples to let kids get out some energy at the park.
My next stop was Washington Park, which I had been thoroughly looking forward to after seeing lots of sneak peeks on social media of their collaboration with Music Hall, and let me just say, this did not disappoint. We arrived at the perfect time, with the countdown to the next show at about five minutes, and I was beaming with excitement — I felt like I was about to count down for the ball to drop on New Year’s. After the countdown, a 30-minute light projection entitled The Music Hall Experience commenced and it gave me all the spooky and cool vibes with a perfectly balanced play on light and dark. And a few times, I even forgot it was all lights and projection and not Music Hall literally on fire before my eyes. The projection was a combination of work from Chase Haverkos, Lightborne, Susan Kosti and AVextended, and each was just as impressive as the next. This is my not-so-formal way of begging BLINK to bring this back for every BLINK festival.
On the walk back, I stopped at one of the newer attractions, zoOTRopia, presented by the Art Academy of Cincinnati, between 12th and 13th Streets. The event hosted a few Cincinnati Zoo-inspired pieces, as well as super cool LED light shows and murals.
Cincinnati artist Michael Coppage had his mural, “Humphrey Gets His Flowers,” as part of a combination of archival video, large-scale projections, mixed media collages and photography with the Art Academy of Cincinnati on display during BLINK this year. Additionally, Coppage performed in StinkStock at zoOTRopia during BLINK.
Coppage, who has previously had much involvement in BLINK with his artwork and volunteering, was impressed with this year’s turnout and overall flow. “There seemed to be lots of people but I think the two new Kentucky zones cut traffic down, and seemed really well executed from my perspective,” said Coppage.
Findlay Market, in the heart of OTR, was also a melting pot of artists, murals and music performances for the weekend as well. Sunday night in the market offered attendees live music by local DJs across a range of genres and styles. One of the DJs that performed Sunday night was impressed by BLINK’s ability to curate a melting pot of Cincinnatians. “It was very interesting to see the cross section of so many different walks of life all enjoying the same music and food experience.”
Last-minute, around 10 p.m., I decided to stop at Newport on the Levee to check out the newest addition to BLINK. This side of things definitely seemed to be tamer, with much less crowds and what seemed to be ample parking, though this could have varied based on the night and time. I made my way up through the Levee, towards the AMC Movie Theater, and unfortunately did not see much in terms of lights or art. But, the Levee did host performances from DJs part of the University of Cincinnati’s Crystal Cove, and I was able to catch an impressive set from up-and-coming DJ grav3yard. Additionally, Cincy Silent Disco hosted three different performances for attendees to check out, which drew in a lot of participants of all ages.
“We had an absolute blast. It was definitely memorable, and it’s always great when we get a chance to do big production performances for the kids as well,” said Cincy Silent Disco.
On my way out, I was able to catch some of the Terminal of Time light show, which projected some really impressive and three-dimensional animals in vivid colors. Overall, I wish the Levee had more immersive or interactive experiences for guests to check out.
In the end, I was thoroughly impressed with everything BLINK had to offer. For being a free event, attendees can spend hours exploring the many different attractions, and still have some leftovers for the next festival. The performances and music definitely did not disappoint, and the light shows, projections and murals felt like something straight out of a movie. I’m hoping that the next festival will have more Northern Kentucky BLINK spots that get a little more love, being that the area is so convenient and perfect for families and locals or those who don’t want to traverse downtown. But, all in all, I’m really looking forward to what BLINK has to offer in 2026, and to see all the surprises and tricks up their sleeves.
This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.