BLINK 2022 will light up Northern Kentucky

BLINK, the free light, art, and music event, is back this weekend after a three-year hiatus, and Northern Kentucky will be one of the zones to explore and discover artistic works of high-tech light projections and wall-sized murals. 

Covington will be one of five walkable BLINK zones, with the others in Cincinnati: The Findlay Market neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine, The Banks, and Downtown. The event begins Thursday, Oct. 13 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 16, and spans 30 city blocks, featuring 39 large-scale projection mappings, 16 new murals, and interactive light sculptures. The event is also a four-day music festival, with more than 80 diverse bands performing on eight stages.

The Covington zone begins at the Roebling Suspension Bridge and runs south to Seventh Street and west to Mainstrasse. It will feature several must-see highlights:
 

• The historic, 151-year-old Mother of God Church on West Sixth Street, with its twin Renaissance-style towers, will be the palette for a light projection by Italian designer Alessio Cassaro and his Antaless Visual Design group.
• Hotel Covington on Madison Avenue will be lit up in a projection mapping designed by Chicago artist George Berlin.
• The Gateway Center on Scott Street will feature a projection mapping done by local motion designer and artist Greg D’Amico that calls to mind old newsreels and a narrative of local history.
• The First Financial Bank building on Madison Avenue will the canvas for a projection mapping created by Covington-based design agency Spotted Yeti.
• In a first for the event, a drone light show will be presented twice each evening over the Ohio River. The 10-minute show will include 300 drones operating in harmony to display 3D imagery, animations, and lighting. It will be visible from Covington Plaza and Smale Riverfront Park. The creative work for the show will be executed by Covington-based Durham Studios in collaboration with Fort Worth Texas-based Sky Elements Drone Shows.

Plan your Downtown, Smale Park, Over-the-Rhine and Findlay Market zones with pro-tips for getting around. 

Organizers expect attendance of 2 million people over the four days, with an economic impact expected to be $100 million.

This is the third BLINK event, with the first being held in 2017. Organizers say the event puts the region on par with similar events in places such Berlin, London, and Sydney Australia.

“We really think about BLINK as an opportunity to showcase all the incredible visual talent that's here, but also an opportunity for us to make sure that Cincinnati and the entire region is put on a national and, hopefully, international stage when it comes to artwork,” says Justin Brookhart, BLINK’s executive director.