BLINK to expand for 2024 festival, stretch farther into Northern Kentucky

BLINK — the nation's largest art and projection mapping experience — is expanding even farther throughout the Greater Cincinnati area for its 2024 festival.

For the first time, BLINK will be taking place in Newport in 2024.

The art festival, which is sponsored by ArtsWave, last took place in 2022 when its spanned more than 30 city blocks throughout Covington, The Banks, downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine. The 2022 festival featured more than 100 art installations, a parade, live music, food and more.

The 2024 festival is set to take place Thursday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 20.

The added festival experience is funded by an investment from meetNKY, Northern Kentucky's official tourism and convention services bureau.

Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, said BLINK also had a record amount of artist applicants for the 2024 festival, with nearly 1,000 applications.

"We have artists from all over the world that want to be part of this spectacle," Cull said.

Attendees will experience new projection mapping displays at Newport on the Levee, and other locations in Newport, including an installation near MegaCorp Pavilion and the Fourth Street Bridge.

Covington's BLINK experience will see the return of installation spots like Hotel Covington, and will also move further east to better connect to Newport.

Justin Brookhart, executive director of BLINK, teased that the 2024 festival will have a laser display installation parallel to the Roebling Suspension Bridge, signifying how the festival is bringing Cincinnati together with Northern Kentucky.

"It's going to span the full length of the Ohio River from Covington Landing all the way to Smale Riverfront Park in Cincinnati. It's code name is 'Supernova,'" Brookhart said.

Brookhart couldn't specify where exactly in Newport there will be art installations, but he said the levee will be a focus.

The drone show will also be making a return, hovering over the Ohio River multiple times a night throughout the event.

Watch the full 2022 parade below:

WCPO asked Brookhart about the criticism over the BLINK's displays in 2022. The event received mixed reviews, with some praising it and others argued installations were too spread out, requiring attendees to walk long distances without seeing any lights whatsoever.

"I think when you're doing a public event, like you have to be open to feedback," Brookhart said.

During this current planning process, organizers have been working on finding ways to fill the gaps, he said.

"Were tightening up the footprint in some places, we're expanding in some places," Brookhart said. "That's the intention. So even if it's not more installations, maybe they're larger scale installations that cover a larger area, entertain more people at one time."

After the festival ended in 2022 , Brookhart called the four-day event synonymous with Cincinnati.

"BLINK is a part of the brand of Cincinnati. Now, this is something that Cincinnati is known for," Brookhart told WCPO 9. "We've seen that a lot with some of the folks that have traveled in this weekend, I spoke to people from LA, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, so many places and they were telling me that like they love that Cincinnati is a place that not only celebrates public art but does it in such a positive way."

The 2022 festival also created a large economic impact in the region.

Organizers said attendees traveled to Cincinnati from 29 different states; through the execution of the event, BLINK also "directly created or supported 1,638 jobs," Brookhart said.

In all, the region raked in around $126 million in the four days BLINK brought people to downtown Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine, Covington and other nearby neighborhoods.