"Going to a tattoo convention is like going to an amusement park," says Alli Baker, a finalist on Season 2 of the Oxygen reality show "Best Ink.
"As soon as you get there, it's high energy and high paced. It's like an art circus.
" Baker is describing the scene she expects at Inxtravaganza, a new-to-Allentown convention Friday through Sunday at the Agri-Plex at the Allentown Fairgrounds.
Up to 75 tattoo artists from 50 shops around the country and personalities from tattoo reality television shows and competitions such as "Best Ink," Spike's "Ink Masters" and TLC's "L.A.
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Up to 75 tattoo artists from 50 shops around the country and personalities from tattoo reality television shows and competitions such as "Best Ink," Spike's "Ink Masters" and TLC's "L.A. Ink" will be on-hand for consultations and to provide tattoos. There also will be tattoo competitions, seminars and vendors for clothing and accessories.
The Lehigh Valley hosts other tattoo conventions throughout the year, but Inxtravaganza organizers say it has a larger selection of top-notch tattoo artists.
Tattoo Magazine, the world's top-selling tattoo magazine, has been hosting conventions around the country since the magazine was first published in 1987. Last year, Inxtravaganza was held in Anaheim, Calif.
"Allentown has never seen anything like what we're doing," says event host Carl Murray, who is known to the tattoo world as Dr. Blasphemy. "This is a rock star lineup for a tattoo convention."
Dr. Blasphemy has hosted some of the country's largest tattoo conventions over the past 13 years. Having recently moved to Pennsylvania from Baltimore, Md., he told Inxstravaganza officials that Allentown would be a good location.
"I knew that Allentown looked like a great area with the colleges and the factories and everything that's around," Dr. Blasphemy says. "I think the fairgrounds is great because it's the place that everyone goes."
The show will be attended by at least 10 tattoo reality show stars, including Amy Nicoletto from "L.A. Ink" and Kyle Dunbar from "Ink Masters" seasons 3 and 4. Two of the world's top tattoo artists, Chris Thomas and Marshall Bennett, will hold seminars, offering the public and other tattoo artists the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry.
"This show is actually a great opportunity to meet with the artists behind these [TV] shows," says event coordinator Leah Hamilton. "This is the best way for the general public to get in touch with these hard-to-schedule-with artists."
Bennett, from Michigan, is an award-winning black and grey portrait artist who has been tattooing for 17 years. He'll give a seminar, "Techniques in Black and Grey." The seminar will cover all aspects of black and grey tattoos, including photo realism, portraits and wildlife. As he lectures on the topic, he will display his techniques.
"I took my fair share of seminars back in the day, and they would just stand at a podium and talk and I didn't really learn as much that way," Bennett says. "So I insisted on tattooing in the seminars."
