Okanagan Tattoo Show & Brewfest showcases both local and international body artists

KAMLOOPS – The Okanagan Tattoo Show and Brewfest offers the public and artists alike a unique chance to soak up body art culture.

Roadkill Riley Seniunas, the owner of True Spade Tattoo in Kamloops is going to the July 19 to  21 event with his tattooist Dani French. The two have done various tattoo conventions around B.C. and Alberta, but this show is a first for the two of them.

“It’s as much for the tattooist as it is for the clientele. The clients, they can come in and get the opportunity to meet and get tattooed by people all over the country or the world in general, so it’s a higher calibre of artists that they get to be present for,” Seniunas, who prefers to go by Roadkill Riley, said.

“On the tattoo side, I get to see my extended tattoo family, it's always a pure joy.  I'm really excited to reunite with some of my favourite people.”

The tattoo show will have live music, with various bands playing each night. The event will also have local breweries pouring cold ones outside of the venue, although no specific breweries been named yet.

“It’s almost like a music festival as well as a tattoo convention. Most of the time is just all about that tattoos, and they have some bands that play here or there towards the evening,” he says. “This one, they have entertainment and craft beer outside of the actual convention hall. It’s a unique setup.”

“This is my first year, I've been to trying to and get into it for quite a while and I'm thankful to be a part of it this year,” says Roadkill Riley.

The show will feature over 170 artists, with artists coming from as far away as Australia, China, and Singapore. True Spade Tattoo is the only Kamloops shop attending the convention.

“I'm excited because generally, they don't have any Kamloops representation there,” he says.

“For years it's been like that, here and there, there's been a shop from town that's been able to be a part of it but nothing consistent, so I'm excited to represent Kamloops.”

The event will be held at the Kelowna Curling Club, at 551 Recreation Drive, Kelowna. You can check out the artists, bands, and buy tickets here.

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