CINCINNATI — The country’s largest immersive art event is just days away. 

What You Need To Know

  • BLINK, which begins Oct. 17, is four days of free public art, spanning 30 city blocks from Cincinnati into northern Kentucky

  • It features more than 80 light, projection and mural projects from renowned artists

  • The projection project at Music Hall in Cincinnati features 12 projectors, 120 light fixtures and four different artists

  • There are six unique zones in the festival's footprint 

It has been a crazy couple of days for the people in charge of making sure BLINK runs smoothly. The festival of art and light returns Thursday, Oct. 17, and features four days of free public art, spanning 30 city blocks from Cincinnati into northern Kentucky. There will be more than 80 light, projection and mural projects from renowned artists.

“Shutting down the city to throw a giant public art party every couple years is how we like to think about this work,” said Justin Brookhart, BLINK executive director. “You’ll see us running around, dropping a lot of equipment, building scaffolding towers. You’ll see mural artists up on lifts painting incredible artwork."

"We’re going to be running around right up until the last minute to get everything perfect for folks to come enjoy free public art in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.”

Brookhart said guests should make sure not to miss the supernova laser bridge, which will run parallel to the Roebling Bridge, or the projection project at Music Hall in Cincinnati. That project features 12 projectors, 120 light fixtures and four different artists.

Will Jennings, Four Wall Entertainment senior project manager, said it has been in the works for several months and will be “incredible.”

“We’ve been figuring out how many projectors, what projectors to use, working with the content team to make BLINK happen,” Jennings said.

This is the fourth edition of BLINK, which takes place every other year. The team is anticipating more than two million attendees, creating a $126 million economic impact for the region.

A big focus for this year's BLINK, Brookhart said, is the connectivity and walkability.

“We’ve condensed our footprint a little bit and tried to make it more dense, having corridors where there’s a lot of activation, so if people are in that area they get to see a whole lot in a short period of time,” he said. “We do think this is a 'nowhere else' experience. There’s nowhere else in the United States where something like this happens at this grand of a scale.”

Brookhart said he recommends attendees plan out their routes throughout the six unique zones in the BLINK footprint. Check out the festival's website for more details and information. 

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