July 22 (Portal) – Hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans flocked to Seattle on Saturday ahead of the pop star’s ‘The Eras Tour’, her final stop at concerts boosting tourism in the United States.
Crowds of fans lined up to buy t-shirts and other merchandise in front of Lumen Field, where the megastar will perform on Saturday and Sunday.
Fresh off a flight from Salt Lake City, Utah, Ragnhild Read was waiting to shop for Swift memorabilia.
“For Taylor, I would travel all over the world to see her,” she told Portal.
The adoring fan saw Swift’s performance in Salt Lake City back in 2013 when she traveled there from her home in Seattle. This time she does the journey in reverse order.
Swift’s concerts have helped increase hotel and restaurant revenue in cities around the world. Visit Seattle, the city’s tourism organization, is hoping the same will happen this weekend.
Swift attends the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Portal/David Swanson/File Photo
“In terms of hotel occupancy, we really expect a very successful weekend. We have a number of hotels that are already sold out, so that’s a very good sign,” said Michael Woody, senior vice president of community engagement and public affairs at Visit Seattle.
King County Council declared the week before the concert “Taylor Swift Week” in her honor.
A giant friendship bracelet hangs over the entrance to the iconic Space Needle, a nod to the trend for fans to swap out woven jewelry while on tour, which began as a nod to their song “You’re on Your Own, Kid” from their latest album, Midnights.
Woody said he expects 144,000 Swift fans to flock to the city over the two days of the concert.
Some Swift fans have traveled in from Canada, where weeks ago Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that the American pop star should add some Canadian stops to her tour.
“I love Taylor Swift and she’s not coming to Canada yet,” said Katherine Archibald, who is traveling to Seattle for the concert from Calgary, Alberta. “Because flights were so expensive, I had to fly all the way to LA and then back to Seattle, which was the cheapest route available.”
In addition to the two sold-out concerts, Seattle is also hosting several sporting events, the Bite of Seattle Food Festival and the Capitol Hill Block Party music festival this weekend.
Reporting by Matt McKnight; Edited by Diane Craft
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