Hell City 2026 brought epic tattoos to Phoenix. See the best

The Arizona Biltmore was awash in ink this past weekend.

The Hell City Tattoo Festival took over the Frank Lloyd Wright Ballroom at the Phoenix resort from Aug. 14 to 16 and featured more than 200 artists from Arizona and across the U.S. slinging ink and creating elaborate body art.

Hundreds of Valley residents attended this year’s Hell City in Phoenix, Arizona’s largest and longest-running tattoo event. Some came to get fresh ink. Others were there to show off their existing pieces and epic sleeves.

Everyone came to celebrate tattoo culture.

Hell City owner Durb Morrison says the event isn’t only for tattoo artists and people looking to get inked.

“The vibe of Hell City is very family oriented. There’s people that have been coming here since they were like 6 to 8 years old with their families, with their parents, that are now old enough to start getting tattoos.”

Hell City, which originated in Ohio and first came to the Valley in 2007, features well-known artists from the tattoo and body art world.

This year’s lineup included dark-art tattoo icon Paul Booth and several contestants from the reality competition show “Ink Master,” including Season 6 winner Dave Kruseman and Tucson’s Nikki Simpson, who competed on Season 8.

Booths throughout the ballroom stayed busy all weekend as artists worked on intricate back and chest pieces in a variety of body art styles. Colorful tattoos inspired by pop culture and anime. Stunning portraits rendered in realism. Twisted creatures inspired by mythology, horror and darker subject matter.

Tattoo competitions added to the action, with trophies awarded for new and existing pieces in several categories. Hell City also debuted the Battle Booth, a daily competition where ink-slingers squared off to create individual pieces inspired by a specific theme.

Here’s a look at some of the standout ink we spotted at Hell City 2026 in Phoenix.