Six a.m. Thursday the 8th of August, the final call sounds for boarding the Aer Lingus flight to Vienna. It’s a sombre mood. Every second person I pass is wearing Swiftie-themed merchandise or rocking a friendship bracelet (an Era’s Tour ritual from the lyrics of Taylor’s song “You’re on Your Own, Kid”: telling her fans to “make the friendship bracelets”). A few tears are shed by some while others attempt to put on a fake smile, faking their way through the reality that they have found themselves in. One thing that they can all agree on is how it is a very different reaction to what they would have expected to experience a few hours beforehand.
Less than ten hours before, the news had broken that Taylor Swift’s three shows set to take place in the Ernst Happel Stadion were cancelled over an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist attack planned for the show. A 19-year-old and 17-year-old were arrested on the 7th of August, with an 18-year-old being arrested in later days as investigations continued.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence in Vienna, said that the 19-year-old confessed to wanting to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue” on either the Thursday or Friday night that Taylor was set to play in Vienna.
The majority of ticket-holders still travelled to Vienna after the news broke. Heather and her best friend were travelling from Canada and recall hearing the news break, “We were on a layover in Dublin en route to Vienna. To say we were crushed is an understatement. We climbed in bed together and cried most of the night. We were torn on if we should even go to Vienna because it felt so tainted now that we knew about the terrorist plot. However, we had everything booked non-refundable so we said let’s just go and see how we feel.”
Ingrid travelled from South Africa for the show and said, “This was our one and only chance to see Taylor live. We planned our outfits for a year and spent months making friendship bracelets. Taylor’s music has been the soundtrack to the different eras of our lives, and the excitement and anticipation to see The Eras Tour was unmatched. We felt so incredibly lucky to be able to see her and to scream and sing along with tens of thousands of Swifties to our favourite songs. When the shows got cancelled, we were utterly devastated, cycling between shock, despair and complete disbelief.”
It was impossible to expect how a city could react to such devastation. Importantly, it’s key to note that this devastation was not simply because the highly anticipated tour which was expected to draw nearly 200,000 attendees over the weekend was cancelled. The heartache in this news came from the realisation that someone was attempting to crush these people’s happiness, to attack the root of “girlhood” and what has brought people so much joy in difficult times. Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of this all is that these fans were counting down the months, weeks and days to a concert that they would have thought to have been one of the happiest days of their lives and instead if authorities had not found out, they would have been counting down the days til they experienced life-altering injuries and trauma or even their death.
The love and warmth that Swifties have experienced at these live shows was brought to the streets of Vienna. Each new street, brought a new Swiftie trading friendship bracelets as they connected in their shock and fear. What could have been an extremely isolating weekend turned into one of community. The well-known Stephansplatz square had Swifties gathering and singing together. Swifitie-themed events took place in the Austrian capital day and night all weekend as well.
I talked to the founder of Swiftie Nights Vienna, Aleksandra (Lex) Dimitrijevic who was one of the main organisers of the events that took place in Vienna. She described her devastation when the cancellation was announced, “I was devastated and speechless. I was in shock and couldn’t believe it. I had been eagerly waiting for these concerts, putting a lot of effort into preparation, and it felt like everything was lost. Despite the shock, I felt a responsibility to support the Swiftie community and ensure their well-being. Only after making sure that our planned Swienna events could proceed safely did I allow myself to fully process my emotions, and I cried all day.”
For one weekend, the city of Vienna became crowned as “Swienna”, a safe haven of music. It was everything that the Eras tour encapsulated.
Heather describes the weekend: “Instantly we felt like Vienna embraced us. Our hotel had a sign-up saying they were so sorry for the Swiftie community and they were offering everyone one free drink to be together. And from there, everything was magical.We wore our friendship bracelets every day and we connected with so many Swifties from all over the world. I’ve never felt more accepted in a community. Women supporting women. People of all ages. It still brings a tear to my eyes remembering all of the kindness and love.”
As the weekend continued different companies started giving out freebies to those who had tickets to the cancelled show, the famous Albertina museum opened their doors to Swifties and the coffee chain Tchibo handed out free hot drinks.
Ingrid further reinstates this sense of community that became infectious throughout the city, “The city of Vienna and its Swifties gave us such a unique and special experience! We sang and danced to her songs in the streets, traded bracelets at Corneliusgasse and in museums and restaurants and train stations. We cried together and sang together and showed that above all, our love for each other and for Taylor’s music will drown out everything else.”
As Ingrid refers to, Corneliusgasse was the epitome of the Swienna community. Hundreds of Swifties gathered together on the street to sing together and leave a bracelet on their very own “friendship tree”. I asked Lex to explain how the idea came about.
“The idea for Corneliusgasse came about because “Cornelia Street” is a beloved song by Taylor Swift, and Vienna has a street called Corneliusgasse, which translates to ‘Cornelia Street’ in English. As a team, we decided to initiate a friendship bracelet tree there, and after sharing it on TikTok, it went viral, turning Corneliusgasse into a hotspot for Swifties. The idea behind it was to create a space where Swifties could meet and exchange bracelets besides the concerts—which turned out to be more important than we could’ve ever imagined.”
I asked Lex what her favourite memory from the weekend was and she said it was “Witnessing the sense of community among Swifties. Despite the disappointment, we all came together, supporting each other in such a beautiful way.…. My personal favourite memory is when the Viennese Swifties gave me a 22 hat that they had all signed. They were all rooting for me to be the one chosen to receive the 22 hat in Vienna, so this was very touching!”
Upon reflection, Lex said “I hope Vienna and Austrian Swifties are portrayed as a loving, supportive, and resilient community. We are peaceful, kind, and deeply connected, and I want the world to see us as a group that values love and safety above all else.”
The love that Vienna has shown to so many heartbroken fans this August will be something that will be cherished for a long time. A recent Instagram statement from Taylor about the cancellation acknowledged this, “I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together”.
Vienna may have missed out on experiencing these concerts, but the city embodied the values of the Eras Tour. They experienced the friendship, love and joy in such a dark time. It truly shows the power of music. Music is much more than a simple song, it is the key signifier that unites people from different backgrounds all over the world. Music allows these people to come together and express every emotion viable whether that is in the nightclub, on a street or even in the Albertina museum! Above all else, it’s so important to remind ourselves of this peace amid the chaos. This August, Vienna has proved to be a testament to this.
