The biggest tattoo convention in Europe returns to London this weekend

The London Tattoo Convention opens at Tobacco Dock on Friday. Here’s everything you need to know...

A convention? Sounds… edgy

Wait! Come back! It’s not the ‘sandwich platter in the boardroom’ event you have in mind. Visitors are more likely to have Skeletor tattoos on their chests than a nametag. The London Tattoo Convention is more like a festival for true body-art obsessives.

So what does it actually involve?

More than 400 of the world’s most talented tattoo artists will fill Tobacco Dock, and most attendees will use it as an opportunity to be inked by a big name. Be warned, the slots book up fast.

What’s on offer for the needle-averse?

Fire-breathing dance troupes,  tattoo competitions and a lot of heavy guitar rock from men in battered leather jackets and stetsons. Along with some extreme body art, there’ll be plenty on the walls too: photography shows, a retrospective of tattoo artist Alex Binnie and a display of Japanese woodblock prints.

Anything else I should know?

Shibari – the art of Japanese rope bondage – is big this year. There are live performances planned for every day of the weekend. You see? Not your average convention…

Want some ink of your own? Find London tattoo parlours here.