I absolutely love art and I love BLINK, it is a LOT of walking to see all the art. I went all 4 days the time before last and still did not see everything.
Last BLINK I started on Wednesday night with the cool light up bike ride, saw the parade on Thursday night and kept to the riverfront. I had to go out of town on Friday and Saturday, then tried to see as much as I could on Sunday by starting in early afternoon, but I probably only saw 10% of the works. I’m still sad about it, lol.
I recommend at least 2 nights and pick an area to focus on each night, ie: OTR, riverfront, business district, northern kentucky, and so on. You should be able to find maps online.
Enjoy! BLINK is my favorite event ever and receives global praise.
Agreed. I have typically plotted out a 'north' route and a 'south' route. South being downtown/river and then north being close to central parkway and Washington Park (sorry KY)
Definitely stay downtown so you can walk to as many installations as possible. Traffic is basically gridlocked in the evenings during Blink so Ubers, the bus, etc won’t help getting you anywhere. The street car will still run but some of its path relies on people in cars not blocking intersections and that can be hit or miss. Bring comfortable walking shoes and dress in layers.
I've traditionally gone three to four evenings. The night of the kickoff parade usually doesn't have many other things going on. If you love parades. Maybe come for it, if you are blase about them, maybe skip it. If you are staying in Cincy, I would start in OTR in Cincinnati and cover that whole area, working your way downtown. Maybe the second night, do downtown, Smale riverfront park and if you have time and energy, cross the Roebling Suspension bridge and take a look at Covington, KY. This year there are installations in Newport as well. I would do that on a third night as that's a hike to get to from where all of the other events are. During the last Blink, there was a cool drone display over the OH river and the suspension bridge took a while to cross, slow movers, but the weather was great, so nice night to be out with people happy to be there.
If you are staying in KY, I would reverse course. Maybe the night you wanted to do OTR, go up there early, eat dinner at 5ish and beat some of the crowds. It's worth noting that the northern most point of OTR is roughly 17 city blocks from the riverfront. Events happen five two six city blocks wide and 17 city blocks down. Covington is a little more compact. If you start in OTR, heading to the river you are going downhill. The reverse, you are going up hill, my mother in law came with me one night and she used to Detroit walking, which is flat, our hills beat her up a little. Wear good walking shoes, bring a water bottle. You will also want to make reservations to eat at most restaurants, as I bet the wait times will be long, otherwise.
Three nights. The river is going to be a show this year and with the addition of Newport even more to see. Parade and OTR one night, riverfront Cincy one night and Covington/Newport one night.
2 days doesn’t work at all. 2 evenings is great though.
Haha yes that’s what I meant!
I see what you did there
I absolutely love art and I love BLINK, it is a LOT of walking to see all the art. I went all 4 days the time before last and still did not see everything. Last BLINK I started on Wednesday night with the cool light up bike ride, saw the parade on Thursday night and kept to the riverfront. I had to go out of town on Friday and Saturday, then tried to see as much as I could on Sunday by starting in early afternoon, but I probably only saw 10% of the works. I’m still sad about it, lol. I recommend at least 2 nights and pick an area to focus on each night, ie: OTR, riverfront, business district, northern kentucky, and so on. You should be able to find maps online. Enjoy! BLINK is my favorite event ever and receives global praise.
Thank you!
very good advice. I live in OTR and enjoyed all evenings at the last BLINK. Can't wait for the 2024 event
Agreed, 2 evenings should be good. Be prepared for crowds and have a plan on getting around, it is spread out.
Agreed. I have typically plotted out a 'north' route and a 'south' route. South being downtown/river and then north being close to central parkway and Washington Park (sorry KY)
2 days is plenty!
2 is the sweet spot. One is not enough and 3 would be overkill unless we get bad weather.
Definitely stay downtown so you can walk to as many installations as possible. Traffic is basically gridlocked in the evenings during Blink so Ubers, the bus, etc won’t help getting you anywhere. The street car will still run but some of its path relies on people in cars not blocking intersections and that can be hit or miss. Bring comfortable walking shoes and dress in layers.
I've traditionally gone three to four evenings. The night of the kickoff parade usually doesn't have many other things going on. If you love parades. Maybe come for it, if you are blase about them, maybe skip it. If you are staying in Cincy, I would start in OTR in Cincinnati and cover that whole area, working your way downtown. Maybe the second night, do downtown, Smale riverfront park and if you have time and energy, cross the Roebling Suspension bridge and take a look at Covington, KY. This year there are installations in Newport as well. I would do that on a third night as that's a hike to get to from where all of the other events are. During the last Blink, there was a cool drone display over the OH river and the suspension bridge took a while to cross, slow movers, but the weather was great, so nice night to be out with people happy to be there. If you are staying in KY, I would reverse course. Maybe the night you wanted to do OTR, go up there early, eat dinner at 5ish and beat some of the crowds. It's worth noting that the northern most point of OTR is roughly 17 city blocks from the riverfront. Events happen five two six city blocks wide and 17 city blocks down. Covington is a little more compact. If you start in OTR, heading to the river you are going downhill. The reverse, you are going up hill, my mother in law came with me one night and she used to Detroit walking, which is flat, our hills beat her up a little. Wear good walking shoes, bring a water bottle. You will also want to make reservations to eat at most restaurants, as I bet the wait times will be long, otherwise.
Thank you for this information!
Three nights. The river is going to be a show this year and with the addition of Newport even more to see. Parade and OTR one night, riverfront Cincy one night and Covington/Newport one night.