CINCINNATI — Organizers of BLINK aren’t playin’ around this year.
The light festival returns to the Greater Cincy area next month with a bridge that has over 25,000 LED lights, a virtual reality experience and a surface mapping projection on Fountain Square.
The light, art and culture event, which runs Oct. 10-13, will feature more than 40 interactive installations in multiple locations across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Festival goers will be able to see large-scale projection mapping, murals by international artists, interactive light sculptures and diverse entertainment. BLINK is free and open to the public.
Among this year’s installations is Lightbattle, an interactive show that allows festival goers to ride Red Bike, which will display an arch of light when mobile. Cyclists will attempt to expand their color of light and out-cycle their opponents. The winner will be “ doused with a dazzling waterfall of light.”
A virtual reality experience will also be a part of the festival this year. The Cincinnati Bell Mobile Unit will feature a high-definition, 360-degree VR experience with time-lapse footage of some of the most iconic Cincinnati venues on display at BLINK.
The 15,000-pound Rainbow Bridge is 27 feet high with over 25,000 LED lights. (That’s almost one mile of LEDs.)
Fraction on Fountain Square is the first-ever architectural surface mapping projection of its kind. The installation will illuminate the Genius of Water and will allow visitors to experience immersive art through light, color, animation and sound.
Tamara Harkavy, CEO and artistic director of ArtWorks, said organizers received more than 100 submissions from artists around the world.
“That’s double what we saw in 2017, and it gave our jury the opportunity to choose the best of the very best for BLINK,” Harkavy said.
BLINK will feature pieces from artists across 11 states and four countries. Twenty-nine of the artists or groups are from the region.
The festival will stretch from Cincinnati’s Findlay Market to Covington, Kentucky, bridging two states and spanning 30 city blocks.
View the festival's zones in the map below:
Follow our entire BLINK coverage here:
- BLINK Future City Spectacular Parade to kick off festival
- Fountain Square BLINK installation will make audience part of the show
- Map: Here's what you'll see and do at BLINK in Cincy and Covington this year
- Roebling Bridge closes for BLINK prep
- What's new this year at BLINK
- Navigating BLINK 2019: Officials urge visitors to carpool or take public transit
- These funky, geometric lights will stay suspended in Downtown even after BLINK is over
