The business of applying tattoos has become a big one – an estimated $2.66 billion one across the United States this year, as estimated by Fortune Business Insights.
On June 26-28, at Caloosa Sound Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers, that business will be spotlighted at the Florida Gulf Coast Tattoo Expo, where dozens of Southwest Florida tattoo artists will convene.
Admission costs $52 for a three-day discounted pass; $26.50 Friday; $31.60 Saturday or $26.50 Sunday. Getting a tattoo at the Expo would start in the range of $350 to $400, depending on the size.
Joey Tattoo, an artist and owner of Main Street Tattoo in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, will emcee the event.
Scenes from a previous Florida Gulf Coast Tattoo Expo.
Courtesy of Florida Gulf Coast Tattoo Expo
There will be more than 200 artists on hand as well as vendors selling jewelry, fashion, oddities and more, including tattoo artistry contests and live music and entertainment.
Lisa Quinter, an Estero resident, organizes the annual festival. She owns and opened Funhouse Tattoo last year at 4560 S. Cleveland Ave., in Fort Myers, at the southeast intersection of Colonial Boulevard and U.S. 41, where five artists work. They will join the other artists at the Expo.
“I personally drive to every single shop and leave the flyers and chat with the tattoo artist and shop owners,” Quinter said of Southwest Florida’s tattoo business community. “There are just over 90 in Lee and Collier County, but that changes on the daily. It can go up, and it can go down.”
Tattoo artists from several other states including New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia will be on hand at the expo.
Scenes from a previous Florida Gulf Coast Tattoo Expo.
Courtesy of Florida Gulf Coast Tattoo Expo
Quinter has just one tattoo. But she said she has a passion for the business and supporting it – not as an artist but behind the scenes.
“My expertise is: give me an Excel spreadsheet,” she said. “Time management, marketing, advertising, community networking. Those are my skills. And I just happen to use them in the tattoo industry.”
The variety of vendors on hand adds to the atmosphere, she said.
“I love the vendors,” Quinter said. “Sometimes, the artists are tattooing and people have to wait an hour. So, people can shop and walk around. There are skin care products, shirts, shoes, you name it.
“We have a café, plus the bar and restaurants next door at the Luminary. We also want to elevate the game here for tattoos. So, we bring in really hot artists from all over the country to talk ink, to talk tattoos.”
This marks the fourth annual festival in Fort Myers; Quinter previously organized one on the east coast before relocating it in 2023 to Fort Myers.
“I do plan it all year long,” Quinter said. “It takes a year to pull something like this off. We book hotels for the visiting artists. I have to work with the health department to get everyone licensed properly. We definitely have a beautiful thing we’re bringing to the Gulf Coast. People are traveling from all over the country.”