Jenny Arcus tattooing at the festival. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
Jenny Arcus tattooing at the festival. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
The sounds of tattoo guns and tools echoed in New Plymouth’s TSB Stadium as over 250 artists added ink to skin at Australasia’s biggest tattoo event.
The New Zealand Tattoo and Arts Festival turned 10 over the weekend and crowds flocked to the venue to celebrate the milestone.
The event had been on pause for the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was clear it had been two very long years since the festival, with people queueing to get into the stadium and watch the artists add their personal touch to human canvases.
Over half of the artists at the event were women. The star of the show was Rose Hardy, who featured in the Netflix television show Tattoo Redo.
Netflix's Tattoo Redo star Rose Hardy was at the festival. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
Rose, born in Whangārei, owns and operates a tattoo studio in New York.
“It’s definitely different tattooing at the festival than in my own studio. My studio is private so I don’t have people walking past or stopping in for a chat. I love it. It’s different to what I’m used to but it’s something I really enjoy. The highlight though has definitely been catching up with all my friends.”
Rose returned to Aotearoa to tattoo at the event.
“It’s the first time I’ve been home for three years so I was super excited to be back in the beautiful Taranaki.”
Rose attended the first festival and says it was special to be back for the event’s 10th birthday.
“I was super excited when Brent invited me to this event.”
Each tattoo artist has their own style and fanbase following, with Rose’s time slots filling up months in advance before the festival.
There were plenty of other tattooists ready to tattoo, and add a piece of art to a human canvas.
Brent McCown using a traditional tattoo method. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
There were many varying styles of tattoos with a range of realistic, tāmoko, modern, vintage, colourful, and black and white tattoos being inked on the day.
Organiser Brent Taylor is blown away by the weekend’s success.
“We had hoped to get over 7000 people over the two days and we smashed that number out of the park. I believe it’s the busiest we’ve ever been.”
Carly Kawaii was one of over 250 artists at the tattoo festival. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
He says over half of the tattooists were women.
“That’s just happened naturally. We have more women tattooists now and their work is just amazing. It was definitely cool to see.”
Amy Lou at work at the New Zealand Tattoo and Art Festival. Photo/ Alyssa Smith
There was something for everyone to enjoy, he says, with live music from The Upbeats, EMWA and Head Like A Hole and live FMX and BMX shows taking place over the two days.
“The whole vibe was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was happy to be back and we all just had a great vibe. The FMX and BMX boys just sent it the whole weekend and it was great to provide this entertainment for free for kids under 14, and at a cheap price for adults. Everything about the weekend was just perfect.”
