Tattoo conventions

A tattoo convention is a multi-day event where tattoo artists from many studios set up booths to tattoo attendees, show their portfolios, and compete in art contests. They are part trade show, part art festival, and a chance to get work from artists you would otherwise have to travel to.

Most artists take bookings ahead of time through their own Instagram or website, and popular names fill up fast. Reach out a few weeks before the event with your idea, size, and placement. Some artists also keep walk-up slots for smaller flash pieces on the day.

A day pass is usually somewhere around 20 to 40 dollars, with weekend passes a bit more. That is just entry. The tattoo itself is priced separately by each artist, and convention pieces often carry a small premium over a normal studio session.

Bring some. Plenty of artists and vendors now take cards or phone payments, but cash is still king at the door and for tips, and it keeps you moving when a booth has a line.

Usually not. Convention pieces often carry a small premium over the same artist’s studio rate, because the artist is paying for a booth, travel, and a hotel. What you are buying is access. Artists you would otherwise fly to see are all in one room for a weekend, and smaller flash work priced for the day is easy to walk up to.

No. Artists at a convention are working, and the tattoo is priced by whoever is doing it. You will sometimes see charity flash days where the fee goes to a cause rather than the artist, and the occasional contest prize, but an event promising free tattoos is a reason to look harder at the event.

They run year round, but the calendar gets busiest from late summer through autumn. This page lists confirmed upcoming dates across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, sorted by month.

It refreshes automatically. We track the major promoters and announcements every week, add newly confirmed events, and drop ones that have already happened, so the dates here stay current without anyone having to remember to update them.