The four-night light and art festival Blink starts in about four months.
Ninety artists from 20 countries have been selected to present at this year's Blink. Organizers had to choose from more than 800 submissions for the fifth incarnation.
Blink started in 2017 and drew an estimated 1 million people over the four nights that year. Last year, in 2024, organizers say 2.1 million came.
Mayor Aftab Pureval says when Blink draws visitors, it helps the city.
“It’s consistent with our strategy for economic development of live events and tourism. That’s why we’re investing so much into our venues, whether it’s our convention center, whether it’s the new Farmer Music Center on the east side of our community,” he says. “The more of these large global events that we do, the better for the brand of Cincinnati, and the better for our small businesses.”
The 2026 Blink will still have projection mapping, sculptures, and murals. But Executive Director Leslie Mooney says they're replacing the opening parade.
“Ready, Set, Blink! will be our all-new opening ceremony held on Thursday, Oct. 8. This is marking the evolution of Blink’s traditional opening parade into a larger, more immersive celebration,” she says. “During these opening ceremonies, the area around TQL Stadium will be transformed into a block-party style experience.”
Blink Co-Founder Andrew Salzbrun says Findlay Market is now the center of a mural district with 65 murals from the event. He says this year Covington will see the start of a similar district.
“We’re using the Hotel Covington kind of as the center-point on the map. We’ll be building out five blocks from that in every direction,” he says. “We ask for the murals to stay up a minimum of five years to the building owner, and so far in the history of Blink I think we’ve lost four over the last decade due to building changes, buildings going up, et cetera.”
Blink will not have exhibits in Newport this year, because the demolition of the 4th Street Bridge made connecting the community with Covington too difficult.
This year's festival is October 8 to 11.
Read more:
Here's when the next Blink will happen
Blink's director reflects on what worked, didn't work in 2024
Miami students among the artists at 2024 Blink
