October is a monster month in terms of multi-day events, so we have created a digest to help you learn about five of the largest happening across the region: BLINK, FotoFocus, Cincinnati Art Week, StartUpCincy Week and a new conference hosted by MORTAR.
BLINK returns to highlight Queen City heritage and creativity
It’s time again for the nation’s largest immersive light, art and projection mapping event to light up Cincinnati. BLINK returns Oct. 8-11, 7-11 p.m. each night.
The free, four-day event stretches across more than 30 city blocks, from Over-the-Rhine through downtown Cincinnati and across the Ohio River into Covington. It features 80-plus large-scale projection mappings, interactive light installations and expansive murals by local, national and international artists. The festival has a mission to nurture a sense of community, connection and inspiration through public art.
The 2024 event attracted more than 2 million people.
There are five concentrated zones for BLINK in 2026: Findlay Market, OTR, Fountain District, Riverfront and Covington. Replacing the opening parade is an opening ceremony and street party – Ready. Set. BLINK! – that will take place 4-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 on Central Parkway adjacent to TQL Stadium. The event will feature interactive installations, live performances, hands-on creative experiences and opportunities to create and wear your own light art – a true family event.
Asianati, the region’s advocacy group for Asian culture, will again hold a night market offering food, beverages, entertainment and vendors along Court Street, between OTR and downtown. Hours are 5-11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 5-10 p.m. Sunday.
Carpooling and the use of public transportation are encouraged. This is a pedestrian-friendly event.
FotoFocus Biennial offers ‘The Long View’
“The Long View” – the eighth edition of FotoFocus, the Cincinnati-based photography festival – brings 74 exhibitions to 65 venues in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus throughout October and beyond.
This year’s theme uses photography to consider our place within the sweep of history and reflect on the past, present and future. And FotoFocus has a new home to host its own major exhibit and related events: FotoFocus Center at 228 E. Liberty St. in Over-the-Rhine.
The biennial opens with a four-day program Sept. 30-Oct. 3 featuring exhibitions, receptions, artist conversations, tours and a keynote lecture by Daniel Immerwahr, a Northwestern University scholar of global history and U.S. foreign policy.
“The Long View” also will spread beyond traditional gallery spaces to museums, schools and universities, theaters, nonprofit cultural centers, parks, hotels and libraries.
Three Neighborhood Spotlight Weekends will put a regional focus on the biennial. Dayton will be featured Oct. 16-18, followed by Columbus Oct. 23-25 and Cincinnati Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
A free Biennial Pass offers access to photography and lens-based exhibitions during October, along with invitations to exclusive events, including the opening weekend. At participating exhibitions that charge admission, the pass waives entry fees. FotoFocus also will offer free round-trip bus tours from Cincinnati to selected venues around the region.
Movers & Makers subscribers are receiving an exhibit map with their mailed, shrink-wrapped October issue. Look for a red FF among our Visual Arts listings on Page 14 indicating FotoFocus-affiliated events.
Cincinnati Art Week debuts in time for BLINK, FotoFocus
Cincinnati is adding another major arts event to its already busy October calendar. The inaugural Cincinnati Art Week will take over Over-the-Rhine Oct. 3-10, with exhibitions, artist talks, pop-up galleries and other events. Rather than creating another festival, organizers say the weeklong showcase will connect people with local artists, galleries and creative spaces.
CAW intentionally coincides with the opening of the FotoFocus Biennial and BLINK, giving residents and visitors another
way to experience the city’s arts scene.
The inaugural event will focus on the art scene in OTR. Plans are to expand into additional neighborhoods in future years, according to ArtsWave, which is sponsoring Cincinnati Art Week and BLINK.
Events include self-guided art walks, vacant storefronts transformed into galleries, exhibitions and creative experiences through partnerships with 3CDC, Urban Sites and Model Group. The week also will feature artist talks, demonstrations and community conversations. The free ArtsWave app will serve as a digital guide to exhibitions and programming.
Organizers have opened headquarters at 1417 Main St., which will serve as the event’s hub. The space will host open office hours and artist coworking sessions, while weekly Wednesday Artist Happy Hours 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Kinley Hotel run through Oct. 7.
StartupCincy Week celebrates ‘bold bets’ by entrepreneurs
StartupCincy Week returns this month to celebrate “A Decade of Bold Bets,” bringing together thousands of founders, investors, corporate innovators and community members for four days of networking, discussions and founder-focused education Oct. 5-8. Hosted at Union Hall, a Cincinnati startup hub in Over-the-Rhine, StartupCincy Week showcases the region’s growing role in Midwest entrepreneurship. Attendees will have access to more than 100 panels, hands-on upskilling workshops and pitch competitions featuring venture funding opportunities, including a showcase offering up to $200,000 in investment from Connetic Ventures.
Each day of the event focuses on a core theme:
Day 1 – Kickoff: opening keynote, community lunch, upskilling sessions
Day 2 – Capital: Cintrifuse annual meeting, venture panels, Best of Demo Night
Day 3 – Growth: 10th anniversary party, workshops
and panels, breakout sessions
Day 4 – Students: fellows lounge, speaker series,
founder panels
Exclusive programming includes the VentureHaus lounge for investor-founder matchmaking and the Startup Clubhouse – a pop-up coworking and community hub at Somerhaus for startup operators.
New MORTAR conference to address challenges that small businesses face
Cincinnati-based entrepreneurship hub MORTAR is bringing a new national conference, “Our North Star – Destination Cincinnati” to Walnut Hills this month.
The inaugural event, Oct. 8-10 in the Peebles’ Corner Business District, will bring together entrepreneurs, creatives, nonprofits and business-support organizations to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing small businesses.
MORTAR CEO Allen Woods co-founded the nonprofit in 2014 to support local entrepreneurs he saw as navigating systems of inequity. Its Entrepreneurship Academy has graduated more than 1,000 people, and the organization has awarded more than $1 million in grants to alumni through its Iron Chest Fund.
Its new conference will focus on issues affecting people across the country – economic hurdles, changes in government funding, tighter consumer budgets and shifting procurement practices.
“We cannot do this work in silos, especially right now,” Woods said. “Whether you are a business owner fighting for your dream or an organization standing alongside them in the trenches, Our North Star is where we come together to recharge, realign, and pave the path forward.”
The conference will feature separate tracks for founders and for the organizations that support them. Founders will get practical business strategies and resources, while “ecosystem builders” will share ideas and work on ways to better support diverse entrepreneurs.
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