London Tattoo Convention: Tobacco Dock 2018
This year was the 14th annual International Tattoo Convention at Tobacco Dock in London. It lasted for three days from the 28th to 30th of September.
The main attraction is obviously the 400 tattoo artists from around the world, so by the time you’ve walked around the entire place (if you make it all the way) you’ve travelled everywhere from the far corners of Thailand; the hidden burrows of Morocco; the depths of Scandinavia; and the Sunny coasts of anywhere from California to Australia.
It has events and acts on throughout the weekend everyday and into the night including everything from acoustic sets to fire eaters. It was complete with bars, food, cupcakes, art shows and displays of some wild and wacky ingenious creations.
By luck I managed to get a walk-up tattoo on the day from an erratic Frenchman. Quite an audience ended up watching, along with a few photographers which followed by a surprise and awkward photoshoot.
The entire day was filled with an overwhelming amount of talent and artwork. You could purchase all kinds of merchandise from each stand, as well as plenty of stalls specially for bespoke handcrafted jewellery and crafts.
Even if you don’t get a tattoo, the convention is still an incredible day out just to be enjoyed for everything that it is. It’s in a quiet corner of London, with an unmatchable atmosphere. The range of people that attended was unique, yet so enjoyable that so many could be joined together by an appreciation of body art.
Join the cult next year, September 27th – 29th 2019, see you there.
