Meadowlands Tattoo Arts Festival
A three-day Villain Arts tattoo festival at the Meadowlands Expo Center bringing hundreds of artists, live tattooing, and daily contests to the New York metro's New Jersey side.
Event details
- Dates: September 4-6, 2026
- Venue: Meadowlands Expo Center
- Location: Secaucus, NJ
- Organizer: Villain Arts (Troy Timpel)
- Founded: N/A
- Frequency: Annual
- Attendance: Thousands over 3 days
- Artists / booths: Hundreds of artists
- Tickets: See website; ~$25/day, ~$50 weekend, under 12 free
- Tattoo competitions: yes, judged categories run across the weekend
- Website: https://villainarts.com/shows/meadowlands-nj/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villainarts
About
The Meadowlands Tattoo Arts Festival runs September 4-6, 2026 at the Meadowlands Expo Center in the East Rutherford area of New Jersey, packing three days of live tattooing, juried contests, and vendor shopping into the greater New York metro market. It is produced by Villain Arts, Troy Timpel's company and the world's largest operator of touring tattoo festivals, so the Meadowlands stop carries the same national talent roster and competitive judging as the circuit's flagship events.
For artists across northern New Jersey and the New York City metro, the festival offers a dense weekend of walk-up clients, head-to-head contests, and direct access to supply vendors and studios just outside Manhattan. Drawing that much industry foot traffic to a single Meadowlands venue makes it a high-value booking and networking stop for one of the country's largest tattoo markets.
What to expect
- Hundreds of tattoo artists working live across three days
- Daily tattoo contests with trophies in dozens of categories
- Featured guest artists from the national Villain Arts circuit
- Stage entertainment including sideshow and burlesque-style acts
- A full vendor floor of supplies, apparel, art, and jewelry
- Walk-up tattooing available throughout the weekend
Best for
NYC-metro and northern New Jersey artists wanting big-market exposure
Notable: Staged in the Meadowlands complex, minutes from Manhattan in the greater New York metro.
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/shows/meadowlands-nj/, https://villainarts.com/shows/