BLINK
North America’s brightest light & art festival: building a future city & illuminating a path forward through human connection & art
CHALLENGE
- Illuminate a path toward inclusion and possibility leveraging the great equalizer — art
- Create national awareness and global buzz for Cincinnati by creating a strong follow-up to the first iteration of BLINK in 2017; a city-wide art event that drew over 1 million people over four days of programming.



ACTIVATION
- Position the activation as a gift to the region and the experience as a one-of-a-kind memory for all to enjoy
- Leverage local and international high-profile artists to create a wide-array of exceptional art forms; large-scale projection mapping, street art murals, interactive light sculptures, and music along the riverfront, as well
- Employ a map plan of beacons and breadcrumbs to draw attendees through the 4-day program and 30 city blocks of the footprint
- The 14-day experiential production culminated in 4 city-wide days of programming with over 100 art installations, while also including the following additional key experiences:
- 2 day thought leadership conference called THINK; creatives focused on working together to create a Future City through art
- City-wide parade to kick off the weekend of BLINK
- 7-Day art gallery featuring works for purchase by internationally known artists in the festival
- Secret Walls – internationally renowned art battle event
- Free concert by recording artists and ongoing music programming throughout BLINK






RESULTS
- Local economic lift of more than $89MM (hospitality, retail and regional government/tourism
- Global press coverage including top-tier feature in Architectural Digest’s global travel guide: “The 5 Best Design Destinations Visit in October”
- Global attendance from more than 20 countries; 1.5MM+ people in attendance; the largest of event in the history of the region
- 16 permanent murals adding to the landscape of the city