Outside of family and friends, if there’s something Quinn Hurley loves more than tattoos, it’s the city of Fort Wayne.

“Our downtown is dope,” he said. “If anyone says differently, they are absolutely wrong.”

As director of operations for the Fort Wayne Tattoo Festival with organizers Jake Farris and Jes Farris, Hurley has been able to spread his love for the city across the country. 

He’s been spreading the love thanks to the festival’s popularity. After hosting one in Fort Wayne in 2022, the guys did four in 2023, and are up 13 this year.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Hurley said. “But as we started doing them, we started learning and growing, and thought, ‘Well, if we can do it four times, why can’t we do it 13 times?’ We’re kind of looking at doing 20 or more next year. As long as you can commit to not seeing your family for a while, it’s doable.”

Thankfully for all involved, they’ll be able to see their families while putting on the festival this weekend, as the third annual Fort Wayne Tattoo Festival returns to Grand Wayne Convention Center from Aug. 16-18.

Tickets are $30 per day or you can get a three-day pass for $65.

Big or small

When the Brothers Farris, who are Studio13 co-owners, began the festival, they were already seeing a shift in the perception of tattoos. 

Go about anywhere, you’re going to see someone sporting ink, be it elaborate designs or smaller traditional or fine line.

“The industry has gone with what people want, which is great because there’s room for everybody,” Hurley said. “There’s definitely room for those people that will do tattoos that take 32 hours over the course of three days and it’s the entire side of somebody’s leg. There are tons of clients that want to do that and artists that want to do that. 

“But, as tattooing has become more popular and more accepted, you see people that say, ‘I want to get a tattoo, but I don’t want to get the entire side of my arm tattooed. I just want the little things. I want the fine-line work.’ Maybe that’s their first tattoo, and that’s what they’re comfortable with, then they come back for more. But that’s what’s so fun about a tattoo festival. You can come in, you can see all the different types of tattoos that can be done, and say, ‘Oh, this is what I’m comfortable with right now.’ Or say, ‘I got a tiny, fine-line one last year. I was thinking about getting something bigger this year.’ 

“Tattooing is becoming more popular and truly something for everyone. As a festival, we want to be able to cater to all those people.”

To showcase the different styles of tattoos, there will be daily competitions for various best healed and best fresh, as well as Tattoo of the Day. There will also be a Worst Tattoo Contest at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

“There’s really loose parameters on that, other than we want it to be something healed and not something done at the festival,” Hurley said of the Worst Tattoo contest. “Obviously, we’re not looking for bad tattoos festival, we’re only gonna get good ones there.”

The “worst” tattoo can come in many forms from just bad artistry to something goofy or more serious.

“You walk across the stage with a tattoo that’s not so good or a tattoo you’re embarrassed about, and you get the opportunity to win a tattoo removal from Removery,” Hurley said. 

“It’s so much fun. It’s one of the best contests because you get a really good mixture of sentimental things, as well as a lot of good, funny moments with humor. You’ll see someone who talks about a wild night they had when they were 18 and did something stupid. Now they have a Looney Tunes character in a vulgar position. Then you have people that have a really bad story come up, and they say, ‘I need this tattoo removed because I got it in a former life or with someone that wasn’t so kind to me.’”

Beyond tattoos

This year’s festival will have more than 250 artists. Along with tattoo artists, there will be other vendors, such as jewelers, dolls, ink merchants, and … a plant shop.

“We have Fuller Plants (of Fort Wayne) coming this year, which I am so excited about,” Hurley said. “The crossover between plants and tattoos is way more than I ever would have imagined. Just talking to people, they’re talking about getting a tattoo, then getting a plant. I’m like, ‘Yeah, cool. Do that.’

“Not everyone that comes to the tattoo festival gets a tattoo. Some people might leave with an art print or a stuffed animal that looks like it has tattoos. Maybe they come and get a plant from Fuller Plants. If it’s for everybody, you have to have something for everybody.”

Or maybe they leave with some coffee beans.

“We have a guy coming who sells coffee beans,” Hurley said of Rocky Martin of Dead City Coffee Roasters out of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. “We met him in April, and he’s come to four of our shows. I said, ‘Hey, are you coming to Fort Wayne?’ He said, ‘I would not miss your hometown show for the world.’ He’s never been to Fort Wayne before, and if he has, it’s been a pass through. But he’s excited to come because we talk it up all around the country.”

Singing city’s praises

According to Hurley, it’s not just coffee roasters that he’s talking to about The Summit City.

“Anyone who asks, ‘What is your busiest show?’ Fort Wayne is one of the busiest, but I’m not leading off with, ‘Well, this one has the most people.’ I’m saying, ‘Come see my hometown.’ As you build those relationships with those people, that’s an easier sell.”

And he’s been out there selling his hometown … hard.

“You get to show off the city to people that might not have ever gone there,” he said. “Fort Wayne is a prime example of that. We bring our friends and tattooers to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they probably never would have come if we didn’t give them a reason to. They come to Fort Wayne, and they fall in love with it.”

“Seeing people in Austin, Texas, (last) weekend, they’re saying, ‘Oh, we can’t wait to go back to Sidecar or The Deck or The Brass Rail.’ They know the names of these places because they’ve been here two times and those are the places that they went and ate food at Copper Spoon or got drinks somewhere at night. They remember that, and that’s so cool for me as a Fort Wayne person. 

“This is my home and those are the places that I go that I think are quality and good.”