Chicago Tattoo Arts Festival 2027
Villain Arts' three-day Chicago festival packs 400+ tattoo artists, daily contests, and live entertainment into the Rosemont convention center.
Event details
- Dates: March 19-21, 2027
- Venue: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
- Location: Rosemont, IL
- Organizer: Villain Arts (Troy Timpel)
- Founded: 2011
- Frequency: Annual
- Attendance: N/A
- Artists / booths: 400+ artists
- Tickets: $25/day - $50 weekend; kids under 12 free
- Tattoo competitions: yes, judged categories run across the weekend
- Website: https://villainarts.com/tattoo-conventions-villain-arts/chicago-tattoo-arts-convention/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villainarts/
About
The Chicago Tattoo Arts Festival is one of the largest stops on Villain Arts' nationwide convention tour, filling the main floor of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont each March. It draws more than 400 tattoo artists from local, national, and international scenes, alongside vendors, a traveling tattoo museum, and seminars. The event runs three days and features live tattooing at every booth.
For artists, it offers high foot traffic in a major Midwest metro plus daily juried tattoo contests across styles, making it a strong venue for building a client base and competing. The lineup regularly includes recognized names and Ink Master alumni, and the floor mixes working booths with stage entertainment such as suspension and sideshow performers and after-parties.
What to expect
- Daily juried tattoo contests across multiple style categories
- 400+ tattoo artists, including international guests and Ink Master alumni
- Seminars and workshops for working artists
- Traveling Tattoo Museum (Tattoo Heritage Project)
- Live entertainment: suspension crews, sideshow and contortion acts
- Vendor marketplace and nightly after-parties
Best for
Artists seeking high foot traffic and contest exposure in a major Midwest market
Notable: Part of Villain Arts' tour. The 2026 edition is the 16th Annual Chicago Tattoo Arts Festival.
How we check this listing
We last confirmed these details on 2026-07-06. Dates and prices are taken from the organizer and change between editions, so treat the organizer's own page as final before you book travel or a booth.
Checked against: https://villainarts.com/tattoo-conventions-villain-arts/chicago-tattoo-arts-convention/, https://www.worldtattooevents.com/chicago-tattoo-arts-festival/