Justin Smith shows off the tattoo on his forearm he received at the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention on Friday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

MARIETTA — Tattoo enthusiasts from all over the Mid-Ohio Valley are heading to Marietta for the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention for custom and artist-curated tattoos for a weekend-long event.

Held at the new Tower Event and Conference Center on Tennis Center Drive, the event features 30 tattoo artists and 10 tattoo shops along with one piercer.

Chase Chovan, owner of Monkey’s Uncle Tattoo Shop, organized the event alongside support from fellow tattoo artists who he’s known over the years.

“For the last six years I’ve been having the Bizarre Bazaar in our parking lot and it was just like a market with mostly oddities,” said Chovan.

He said it was a smaller event with food trucks and vendors who sold unique and handmade creations. It wasn’t a tattoo convention and it was only a day-long event.

Kaylee Bash with Red Rose Tattoo is tattooing a design on an individual’s arm at the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention on Friday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Chovan said there was a different tattoo convention at the Washington County Fairgrounds last year held by someone from out-of-town and it influenced his decision to organize his own.

“So I announced it last December and I’ve been posting this all over social media for months,” he said. “We’ve been working on it ever since and it’s finally here.”

Chovan said he had a lot of support from his family and friends and fellow artists who loved the idea when they heard about it. He wanted to give a special thanks to Meg Rataiczak who helped organize and plan the sponsors for the event.

He said the support has been overwhelming and they’re expecting to have over 300 people attending for the three-day event.

“A lot of these vendors I know and some of them are from local shops,” said Chovan. “There’s a few artists here that came from a few hours away.”

Jordana Bungard’s West Side Sign Co. was among the vendors displayed outside of the Tower Event and Conference Center for the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention on Friday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Red Rose Tattoo from Zanesville has eight total tattoo artists stationed in the back left corner of the conference center lobby. Founder and owner of Red Rose Tattoo Billy White and co-owner and artist Jen Siegfried said they have known Chovan for many years.

“We could see a shift in what was coming in tattooing and we wanted to be part of that,” said White.

Red Rose Tattoo opened 10 years ago and White said this is their celebration year.

“We both had our own ideas of what we thought would look cool and that’s why we started it.”

Siegfried said she’s known Chovan for nearly 25 years when they both worked in Roanoke, Virginia.

Many of the artists offered customized or pre-selected tattoo options. Marietta local Lure Tattooing & Piercing Studio artist Ralph Crawford offered “get what you get” tattoos. The case was filled with a variety of tattoo options the individual won’t know until they pay and open the surprise. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“Chase was saying he was going to throw this and we were like, yo we’re in,” said White. “It’s been a great opportunity for us because this is the first time our tattoo shop has gotten to travel as an entire shop.”

White said they had six artists with the shop and two guest artists who were with them for the event. He said they always have guest artists who work within the shop in Zanesville.

Nearly 100 people attended the convention Friday from noon to 9 p.m. to enjoy the community and get a tattoo or more.

There were rows of artists tattooing people of all ages with custom or artist selected tattoos. Many of the individuals receiving tattoos and a few volunteers responded by saying the event was a great way to connect with creative personalities.

Hours for the convention are noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday with a $10 admission fee.

Red Rose Tattoo artist Kaylee Bash tattoos the face of a woman on an individual’s forearm at the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention Friday afternoon. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com.

The Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention features 30 tattoo artists and 10 total tattoo shops at the convention. The event is noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Each artist and tattoo shop displayed pre-selected tattoo sheets for guests to pick from at the Bizarre Bazaar Tattoo Convention. (Photo by Amber Phipps)