The BLINK art and light festival in October will feature more than 20 displays in Covington like this one in Cincinnati two years ago.
Art & light festival to feature more than 20 displays south of river
COVINGTON, Ky. - BLINK’S foray into Covington this October won’t be an afterthought: The massive and wildly popular art and light festival will feature more than 20 displays south of the river with a sensory blitzkrieg of creativity stretching from the Roebling Suspension Bridge up Madison Avenue to Braxton Brewing Co. on Seventh Street.
Buildings will be lit up with projected shows of animated and colorful light. New murals will be painted on blank walls and sides of buildings. And street corners and parking lots will feature music, art performers, food and drink.
“Covington will be one of BLINK’s most densely packed zones for art, light, music, and food, said Brendon Cull, COO of BLINK partner the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
“We wanted to make BLINK a truly regional event - the river is not a divide but a landscape feature - (and) Covington has a rich history of murals from both local and international artists,” Cull said.
The festival held a press conference this morning to announce a few of the details around the Covington portion of BLINK, which brought about a million visitors to Cincinnati at its first event two years ago. This year, the free event falls on Oct. 10-13, just a week after the inaugural Kentucky’s Edge bourbon conference and festival.
Numerous City of Covington officials attending today’s announcement said they eagerly anticipated the attention brought to the city.
“BLINK will bring quite a climax to an exciting week in Covington and give us a chance to showcase our city in a beautiful and exciting way to enormous crowds from around the world, many of whom may be visiting Covington for the first time,” City Manager David Johnston said.
Cull apologized for the lack of visuals at the media conference, saying that was intentional: “We wanted everything to be a surprise,” he said.
However, he and others provided details about the displays:
- A free concert featuring the alternative rock band Grouplove and other bands Oct. 12 in the RiverCenter parking lot.
- As previously announced, the Suspension Bridge will be bathed in co-ordinated light and sound.
- The architecturally significant Ascent building will be bathed in animated light on all sides with vibrant colors and patterns.
- A new mural celebrating local philanthropists Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile will be created on the back of the U.S. Bank building at Sixth Street and Madison Avenue.
- A new permanent mural will be created on the tower of the north side of the TANK garage on Madison Avenue, then animated during BLINK through projection mapping.
- The three-story Faile mural on West Sixth Street and the London Police mural at Fourth Street and Scott Street will be featured through architectural projection mapping.
- Several sides of The Hannaford Building at Pike and Madison will be lit up with animated projections.
- A light installation that will “sit” on the Ohio River itself will be created by Northern Kentucky University.
- And a pop-up disco party will feature the World’s Largest Mobile Disco Ball.
BLINK is produced by The Agar, ArtWorks, Brave Berlin, the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. In Covington, the festival is made possible with financial support from Bill Butler, chairman of the Board of Corporex Companies.
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