Art of tattooing and a good scare at special event

A celebration of tattooing, the art behind it and a good scare were enjoyed by people of all ages at a city racecourse.

Some of the artwork on display at the bash

The Halloween Tattoo Bash returned to the Holiday Inn Garden Court Hotel at Wolverhampton Racecourse on October 22 and 23 for another year of celebrating tattooing and Halloween together and raising funds for charity.

Children were catered for with a range of activities

The event, which has been running at the racecourse since 2014, brought together tattoo artists from all over the country and further afield to show off their art and compete in a range of competitions around colour, shape and design.

Tattoo artists were working over both days on artwork

There was also an interactive scare maze, with professional actors on hand to scare people, mental health rooms with counsellors on site and a range of activities for children, all while raising funds for a number of charities.

Event co-organiser Mac McCarthy, who runs the event with partner Jo Webster, said it had raised more than £37,000 for charities such as the Haven Wolverhampton and Promise Dreams over the years and was a great event to bring people together.

He said: "We've had about 160 tattoo artists from across the country and abroad who have come over as working artists, but it's not just for people over 18, it's very family orientated and had a lot of interactive bits for kids to enjoy.

"Tattooing is something I've been involved with my whole life and the first show I put on was basically because I wanted to get a lot of my friends together to have a party at the end of the year as we didn't see each other that often and it's just grown from there."

A large crowd were present on both days of the bash

Mr McCarthy also said the event helped to celebrate the artistry of tattooing and alternative lifestyles and also get rid of some of the stigma around it.

He said: "It's a lot more mainstream now and you'd be really surprised about the sort of people who do come and enjoy the tattoo scene.

"Events like this are good because they show how mainstream they are, with celebrities and stars having them and it does help to get rid of the stigma that used to be associated with it.

"It doesn't mean that someone is a bad person if they have them, they just like to show off their art in a different way."

To find out more about the 2023 event and the history of Halloween Tattoo Bash, go to halloweentattoobash.co.uk