Newbury hosts first tattoo convention

A tattoo artist is holding his own tattoo convention to celebrate the talent Newbury has to offer.

Lee Priddy, of Full Power Studios on London Road, has attended and tattooed at festivals and conventions in the past but this time he’s taking the reins.

The artist, who recently issued free tattoos to NHS workers, will be hosting tattoo artists from across Newbury and Thatcham at his own tattoo convention at the Corn Exchange on Saturday, August 6, and Sunday, August 7.

He said: “The NHS event went super well. I was tattooing from 9am to 9pm and everyone was super friendly. I think this would be a fun one to do but on a bigger scale.”

Mr Priddy said he thought the event would be a “cool idea to have a good time”.

The convention will see art stalls, live tattooing, artwork being sold and other activities.

He said: “Each artist has their own booth. You can go in and get tattooed by an artist on the day.”

Mr Priddy, who has been a tattoo artist for around a decade, talked about how important it is to bring artists from across the industry together, especially after the pandemic.

“The industry suffered quite hard with Covid,” he said. “It was deemed unessential work, we couldn’t really do much for a while and it was difficult to get together and sort of get back to normal.”

He continued: “This will be a cool celebration for everyone. They’ll be able to get out.”

He said Newbury and Thatcham has around 35 tattoo artists and around 13 tattoo studios.

“A few tattooists do get together sometimes for drinks and a few keep to themselves – maybe they’re shy – but this will be the biggest meet up we’ve had.”

Tickets are available on the Corn Exchange website.