Madison’s first tattoo festival opens this weekend

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Madison Tattoo Festival kicked off Friday at the Alliant Energy Center and will continue throughout the weekend.

The event is part of a nationwide network of tattoo festivals, but it is the first time Madison has ever hosted one. It features over 200 tattoo artists from Madison and around the world and aims to build relationships within the tattoo community.

Quinn Hurley, operations manager for the festival, was happy to have so many artists in the same venue.

“Tattoo shops are scattered all over the city and maybe they all know each other and maybe they’re all friends, but to actually have a space that can house everyone’s artistic talent under one roof is pretty rare,” Hurley said. “So we’re excited to come over and celebrate those and bring in the new artists that haven’t been here before and have a chance to show off the city.”

Hurley also believes the festival will persuade some guest artists to return to Madison in the future to share their talents.

“Someone might not think of coming to Madison on their own, but when we bring them here to work at a festival, they walk around, see downtown and say, ‘Oh, wow, this city is great,'” and they want to come back,” Hurley said.

Admission to the festival is $30, allowing visitors access to the many artists for a tattoo appointment. The event itself is family friendly and features artwork and local goods, but only those over 18 can get a tattoo.

It continues Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m

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