PREVIEW: Maiden City Ink International Tattoo Convention 2015
Northern Ireland’s biggest tattoo convention is back for its fifth instalment and will take over the Everglades Hotel on May 8th.
The three day event offers the opportunity to get tattooed by award winning artists from all over the world, specialising in styles from portraiture to old school.
With over 2000 people expected to attend, event organiser Zac Deeney (owner of Skin Art Tattoo & Piercing on William Street) is well aware of the convention’s popularity, “it is getting bigger every year” he says, “but larger exhibition venues are needed in Derry for such things, but we try to bring the city quality artists so people can see there’s more to tattooing than just black tattoos.”
“We have nearly 50 tattoo artists working this year, even one of the artists has travelled from New York to attend” says Zac. To avoid disappointment, potential customers are urged to book appointments prior to the event by contacting the artists through the links on maidencityink.com or the convention’s Facebook page.
When asked who would be the most sought after tattooist, Zac told us “the most popular would be Thomas Pollard and Gari Henderson for realism tattooing, but there are some really good artists tattooing all styles from traditional to Japanese to dot work so every style is catered for the ink collector.”
So, weather you want to show off your own ink, or to finally take the tattoo plunge, the Maiden City Tattoo Convention will be worth visiting.
The Convention runs from Friday, 8 May to Sunday, 10 May at the Everglades Hotel. Admission £5, pay at the door.
Check out more interviews and features in this month's Derry Live List e-zine here
