Cincinnati’s renowned Blink festival no longer has a guided app, but a couple local developers filled that void with an unofficial version.
The biannual lights and arts festival illuminates Downtown and Northern Kentucky with newly commissioned murals, artistic light installations, projection shows and live music performances. Millions are expected to traverse throughout the city and across the Ohio River to check out the dazzling displays Thursday through Sunday.
More:11 must-see installations at Blink Cincinnati 2024, according to the experts
Because there’s no official Blink app, visitors are encouraged to use a map, which is available in a physical handout format and on a mobile web browser. The festival previously had a map app but stopped offering it in 2022.
But a rogue app emerged that year known as Blonk, which maps the attractions and offers other festival information in an interactive format. Here’s what to know about the unofficial festival guide and its updated features for 2024.
Blonk Cincinnati: What to know about the unofficial Blink festival app
Blonk was launched as a passion project in 2022 by local artists and software engineers Nathan Bolender and Jason Alghussein, according to a press release from the developers. Designers describe the app as a “totally unofficial guide to all the good stuff at the Blink Cincinnati art festival.”
Users can find out where events and installations are set up, and view profiles about each exhibit and the artists behind them. The app was recently updated with new features not available at the last iteration of Blink.
Features of the Blonk app include:
- A complete, interactive map of official and unofficial art installations.
- Up-to-date event and music schedules.
- Offline capabilities to ensure navigation without cell service.
- The ability to star attractions for a personalized experience.
- The ability to track installations you’ve visited.
- Filters to sort installations by type and status.
- Walking directions to each location and amenity.
The app has up-to-date information about all official Blink exhibits, additional unofficial artwork and community events surrounding the festival. The app aims to spotlight those local artists and communities often overlooked by mainstream channels, the release said.
Blonk can be downloaded on Google Play and the App Store. It is searchable under “Blonk Cincinnati.”
Festival-goers can contribute to the app by emailing their events to info@blonkcincinnati.com.
