The weekend of the Walk Up Classic is one of our favorite times of year. It gives us the chance to gather some of our favorite tattooers, welcome hundreds of people through our doors and gain the satisfaction of working tirelessly to put on such a unique high energy event. 

This year we celebrated the Walk Up’s third year and kicked off the weekend Friday with our opening party and flash reveal. The party was packed, with crowds of people coming by for drinks, hangs and a chance to prepare for Saturday and Sunday by picking their tattoo design ahead of time. We offered an open bar featuring Stolen spirits, Virtue Cider, Revolution Brewing and Bangers and Lace. The Donermen food truck was parked out front serving up their famous doner kabobs and german street food. Plus, new this year we welcomed Jen Jansen to take tintype photos on site!

Saturday the event began by welcoming our instagram #walkupwalkin contest winner who was randomly chosen out of over a hundred people who re-posted the contest image on social media. By winning the contest she won the privilege of skipping the line, a prize package consisting of gifts from our sponsors and first pick of tattoo and tattooer. She chose Chad Koeplinger and an American traditional eagle and dagger tattoo from his flash.

Opening the doors to the public promptly at 11AM we greeted our first person in line. He had been camping out since 1am and was excited to pick his tattooer and tattoo. He chose a skull and snake design from Tony Hundahl and then defrosted while looking through his gift bag he received for the being the first in line. 

For the next two days the event went off without a hitch and we tattooed everyone in line both days. Some had fun waiting in line and camping out the night before while others came throughout the day and enjoyed the option of which tattooer was first available. This year we even had a few people who decided to really go for it and get multiple tattoos from different tattooers the same day. 

Many of the tattoo artists have said one of their favorite parts of the event is tattooing the designs other tattooers have painted. Despite the reputation of being known mostly for American traditional tattoos, there are several other designs and styles of flash to choose from including; Japanese, Black work, Dot work, Geometric, Illustrative, and more. On this year's flash sheets in particular, we saw several designs paying homage to those popular in 90’s tattoo flash such as; tribal, biker, bio-mechanical and pop culture characters like Taz and Yosemite Sam. 

When we started the Walk Up Classic, we had no idea what it would be like. We are so thankful for the support of everyone who has participated. We could not do it without our customers and sincerely appreciate your excitement for the event. Thank you to our sponsors for your continued support and collaborative efforts with us. Hope to see you all next year for the Walk Up Classic 4!