We’re just days away from Cincinnati’s BLINK festival, the biggest arts and lights festival in the country. While we’re excited to once again be awash in the color and glow of BLINK’s murals, light installations, projection mapping and more, music has also always been an important part of the immersive festival. Now, organizers are sharing the lineup for all the musical performances and live entertainment — the soundtrack of BLINK, if you will.
BLINK returns to Cincinnati Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 17-20, transforming over 30 city blocks from Over-the-Rhine into Northern Kentucky with art and music. This year, organizers say music will be a more integrated piece of the BLINK experience, with music being a key component to BLINK’s installations, including all the light projections. This includes:
- Echo Archive by Reality is in Lytle Park
- Free Form by Afrochine at 13th and Republic streets
- Loophole by Calidos at Scott and E. Sixth streets in Covington
- River Gaze by Britni Bicknaver and Brianna Kelly in Smale Park Riverfront Park
- Stargate by Chalk River Labs near the ICON Festival Stage
- Vivid Volume by Digital Castaway at Vine and E. Sixth streets
“We are continuously striving to create new opportunities for artists to maximize their creative output,” Andrew Salzbrun, managing partner of AGAR — a co-founder of BLINK — said in a press release. “Adding audio hardware to each site is going to allow for the creative output to reach an additional sense and provide more lasting memories of the event.”
Over 40 musical groups will perform across seven stages at BLINK, including both local and national acts:
Findlay Stage at Elm and Elder Streets
Featuring nightly DJ Collective takeovers. Guests can dance under the neon string and lights by artist Dan Shields.
Liberty Lots Stage at Liberty and Race Streets
Jake Sweeney Jam Rocker will host live DJs and emcees each night. The music will be mixed into the pop-up Skate Spot activation by the Cincinnati Skate Project Collective.
Freedom Stage at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Each night will showcase a different sound and genre of the Black diaspora, including soul, R&B, reggae, Afrobeats and more.
Star Stage at The Black Music Walk of Fame
The Wiz’s DJ JDough will be spinning funky and legendary Cincinnati sounds. Experience the state-of-the-art Black Music Walk of Fame and then stay to dance under the stars at the Star Stage all night long.
Cardtopia Stage at the Covington Amphitheatre
Each night at 9 p.m. features performances from local funk, blues and rock bands. And at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. each night, catch the Mystic Eye Drone Show. Saturday will include performances by world-renowned magician and Bicycle Playing Card ambassador Anna Deguzman.
The Jake Sweeney Stage at Braxton Brewing
The teams from Jake Sweeney Automotive and Braxton Brewery will be hosting a four-day long block party in the streets of Covington, and BLINK’s southern-most stage. Acts include Sugar Daddy and Ernie Johnson from Detroit.
Newport on the Levee Stage & Silent Disco
There will be live music and DJ entertainment here nightly from 7-11 p.m. Cincy Silent Disco will also be there with three different dance stations all night.
In addition to stage performances, BLINK will also have scheduled live entertainment throughout the four-day festival, including the Let it Shine Parade on Thursday night to kick off the festivities and afterglow, the first-ever official BLINK afterparty at MegaCorp Pavilion. For more information on performances and to see the full lineup, visit blinkcincinnati.com.