Marc Blanchette of Marc’d Up Tattoo is getting ready to bring the Border City its first tattoo expo. Taylor Weaver Photo
In one month, the Centennial Civic Centre will be transformed into a scene out of Ink Master as the Border City hosts its first-ever tattoo expo.
The expo, which runs from May 26-28, is being organized and put on by Marc Blanchette and the team from Marc’d Up Tattoo who are excited to bring this new event to Lloyd.
“A tattoo expo is a way to bring artists from all over Canada together and put them into one ‘studio’ or ‘event,’ and give clients the opportunity to be able to hit a lot of different styles of tattooing under one roof,” said Blanchette last week after returning from the recent Saskatoon expo.
“There’s traditional, black and grey realism, cartoon, and there’s tons of different artists that do different things. It’s a way to bring all of these artists to one community.”
Blanchette also explained there’s a few different ways to get tattooed while at an expo.
“If you’re a client you can just do a walk-up,” he said.
“Lots of artists also draw flash tattoos and will lay them out on a table to show what they’re looking to tattoo over the weekend, so if you see something you like, you can see if that artist is accepting walk-ins.”
So far, Blanchette can confirm he has artists coming in from Kamloops B.C., Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, and Manitoba, which has him quite excited about the competition aspect of the expo.
“In those competitions, there’s different categories,” he said.
“There’s a small black and grey category, large black and grey, small colour, best portrait, that kinda thing, and it gives us an opportunity to showcase our art.
“Artists like myself, I like trying to win awards and showcase my work, so I tend to bring a client with me and have something pre-designed so I can enter it into different categories.”
With this being Lloyd’s first expo, Blanchette explained the process can be quite difficult as you have to have a lot of connections within the tattoo world.
“You have to be able to draw these artists in. Just because you’re hosting a tattoo show doesn’t really mean anything to other artists, you have to have some credibility … and that’s where I feel lucky,” he said, noting he spent six years tattooing in Turtleford before expanding and opening a shop in Lloyd two years ago.
“I’ve travelled and been to events for the last seven years trying to get myself to grow as an artist, and through that, I’ve met a ton of different artists from all over.”
With the ice now gone for summer, the expo will be held on the lower level of the Civic Centre and will include a whole lot more than just tattooing.
“There’s nothing saying you have to get a tattoo, so if you just want to check out the tattoo world, everyone is more than welcome,” said Blanchette.
“It’s also not strictly tattoo-oriented. There’s a ton of different vendors coming that are in the tattoo world but aren’t artists.
“There’s a lady who makes candles into skulls and a whole bunch of different creatures using molds, there’s a guy who’s bringing a whole bunch of Viking stuff with him … there’s a vape shop from Lloyd that’s coming to do some promoting … For Lover’s Only is even coming to set up a booth for our adult night and sell all kinds of stuff.”
There will also be food and drink vendors throughout the weekend.
The Lloyd expo will also be unique as Blanchette is planning on getting the crowd more involved during the judging portion of the expo’s competition.
“We’re going to do a People’s Choice award, so we’ll get people up on stage and judge the tattoos done throughout the weekend, just as the artists would do at most other shows,” he said.
“We’re just trying to get the crowd involved, and we’re excited because it kind of has that “Ink Master” feel to it.”
Weekend passes for the three-day expo are $50 and a day pass is $20.
“It’s a lot of fun because you can have drinks and the expo will be open until midnight, so it’s kind of like a tattoo party,” said Blanchette.
