BLINK… Cincinnati like you’ve never seen it!4 min read

[I’m posting this as my first of a few blogs covering BLINK. After writing this post, I had the opportunity to spend 3 hours riding the streetcar and walking the streets with Tim Maloney. So, now I have some great inside scoop and some really cool insider details about the event. Stay tuned for the behind-the-scenes info early next week…until then, here’s today’s blog!]
Cincinnati, be prepared to be blown away with an event that’s getting us recognized all over the world!
If you enjoyed LumenoCity, that was just whetting your whistle for what’s about to happen along 20 blocks in downtown Cincinnati between Oct. 12-15th. Cincinnati’s going to have a family-friendly nightlife like no other! The city is going to come alive with light displays, projection mapping, murals and interactive art that will transform downtown into work of art.
The same brains that were behind LumenoCity––Dan Reynolds and Steve McGowan, the cofounders of Brave Berlin media––are taking things way past the next level by lighting up the whole city! They’ll be working with Tim Maloney, the President and CEO of the Carol and Ralph V. Haile Foundation and an instrumental figure in the original concept of combining a light show projected on the beautiful Music Hall with music by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Together these guys toured the globe looking for inspiration in what Tim Maloney called the “best of the best” light shows. They knew they could do more in Cincinnati because of our unbelievably beautiful architecture, and because we could do it by walking the city. Maloney said the mission behind BLINK in our “current state of division in the world” is to “celebrate inclusion, values , a sense of unity and diversity and creative spirit.”
BLINK will take place between The Banks (by the Freedom Center) and all the way up to Findlay Market. It will kick off Thursday October 12th at 7:15 with what I can only imagine will be a spectacular parade organized by one of the coolest women in town, Pam Kravetz . The parade will have thousands of participants and will take off from north of Findlay Market, go down Vine St., then cross over to the west and end in Washington Park.
You’ll be able to walk around and check out more than 70 amazing light based installations and projections developed by artists from Cincinnati and all over the world! There will be a huge, walk-through, interactive, inflatable piece in Washington Park called Architects of Air (the only ticketed event). They are going to make the murals on buildings come alive. The organizers have joined forces with Tamara Harkavy and ArtWorks, who will also have a part in showing off the many new street art murals that were painted this summer by a huge team of local artists.
I’m telling you, you need to plan a couple of nights to come downtown and check this out…if not all four nights. It’s going to be a destination for out-of-towners, I promise! Our city and BLINK have been recognized in The New York Times and Architectural Digest. I just saw it in my Real Simple magazine as a must-do thing for October! :)
This is a free event (except for the ticketed blow-up in Washington Park). It’s walk able and, for those who’d prefer to hitch a ride, it’s on the streetcar route.
There will be so much to see, you’ll want to do more than one night. And, I think if you go to the same installation twice, you’ll most likely see it differently every time.
Thank you to a few of the main organizations making this amazing event possible: The Haile Foundation, Brave Berlin, Agar, ArtWorks, US Bank and the Greater Cincinnati Regional Chamber and many more.
Things to Know
Ways to see it:
• Streetcar
• Walking the sidewalks (don’t forget your fitbit:)
• Red Bikes
This is a light-up night, so bring some glow sticks or fun light up things and join in on the fun!
I’ll be following up during the installation process, so join my Facebook page (HeyMichelle) and my Instagram (HeyMichelle1) for updates.
This is going to be AMAZING!!!