Taylor Swift brings Eras Tour to London

Swifties in London will finally get to experience the Eras Tour as Taylor Swift brings her billion-dollar blockbuster live show to the capital on Friday.

The US superstar has already played shows in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff and arrives at Wembley Stadium amid a frenzy of fan excitement.

British and Irish fans have waited more than a year for the show to arrive, since Swift kicked off her marathon string of dates in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023.

Since then, she has crossed the US, Asia and South America and made stops across Europe, often accompanied by her boyfriend, the NFL star Travis Kelce.She played three sold-out shows at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh earlier this month, followed by three at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool and one night at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

She will now play three nights at Wembley Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before taking the tour to Dublin next week.

She will return to London for five more shows in August.

Taylor-fever is already gripping the capital, and a special merchandise superstore opened on Wednesday near the stadium so fans who could not get tickets to the show, or who wanted to stock up in advance of the gigs, could buy branded hoodies, T-shirts and hats.

It was revealed on Thursday that Swift’s fans were expected to boost the London economy by £300 million as the capital hosts more Eras Tour shows than any other city in the world, with nearly 640,000 people expected to attend across the eight dates.

To celebrate her arrival in the capital, murals, a special Tube map, a Taylor trail and a series of events have all been created.

Wembley Park is hosting two new public artworks including a large mural on the Spanish Steps, which are being temporarily renamed the Swiftie Steps.

The steps, which connect Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena Wembley, will feature Auras created by artist Frank Styles which have been compiled digitally from more than 30 separate physical paintings.

Below the steps will be the Ready For It mural painted by MurWalls & HUMOR which features a portrait with lyrics interwoven across the artwork.

A Taylor trail launching on Friday will celebrate places across the capital that are referenced in her music, with venues displaying vinyl stickers in their windows to welcome fans.

Notable locations on the trail include the West End, Soho, Bond Street, Camden Market, Highgate, Hampstead Heath, Vauxhall, Shoreditch, Hackney, Brixton and Kentish Town.

Fans will be able to access the trail through QR codes at participating venues and on the Visit London website, which has created a guide to the many events taking place across the city including brunches, singalongs and quizzes.

Transport For London (TfL) has also reimagined the Tube map in the singer’s honour, with each line named after a different album and drawn in colours to match, while stations will be named after songs.

Among the changes on the Tube Map (Taylor’s Version), the Central Line has been renamed Red (Taylor’s Version) after the singer’s fourth album while the green District Line has been named after Swift.

The map also notes down a host of places on the Taylor trail as well as Wembley Stadium to help the Swifties orientate themselves across the city.

Swift’s tour, which takes fans on a journey through the different musical stages of her career, has been a juggernaut.

The 640,000 fans set to attend the Wembley shows are estimated to spend an average of £471 when they come to the capital, according to a report by the Greater London Authority.

The estimated £300 million total boost to London’s economy was calculated using data from UKInbound’s tourism statistics for 2018, which showed that each domestic and international tourist to the UK generated about £396 to the UK economy that year, with the individual spent figure then adjusted to bring it in line with inflation.

Published: 21/06/2024 by Radio NewsHub

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