Photo credit:  Taylor Swift performs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Friday, July 28, 2023. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

 

One Taylor Swift fan says that if she is not able to secure a ticket to any of the superstar’s tour dates in Toronto, she’ll stand outside the venue all six nights anyway.

“I’m totally OK with standing outside of the stadium with every single other Swifty and tailgating for all six shows,” said 27-year-old Jayde Fleming, who lives in Barrie, Ont. “I’m gonna get an Airbnb for myself to make sure that I’m in Toronto all six days.”

In the meantime, her ticket-scoring strategy involves careful co-ordination with her own group of Swifties, who will each attempt to purchase tickets for different dates to ensure everyone gets to see at least one show.

Such is the devotion of Taylor Swift’s fervent Canadian fans who say they’re “preparing for war” as tickets for six shows at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in November 2024 — the only Canadian stop on her Eras Tour — go on sale.

Those looking to score tickets right away must have already registered for the “verified fan” sale and received a unique access code with further instructions, but that still doesn’t guarantee access to a seat. Ticketmaster is staggering the presale times for the Toronto dates over three days to avoid site crashes and technical issues fans encountered when they tried to buy tickets for Swift’s past concerts.

The first two Toronto dates — Nov. 14 and 15, 2024 — go on sale Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET respectively, while the other dates follow in pairs over Thursday and Friday.

Many fans are turning to social media for tips on how to beat the Ticketmaster web traffic and get a prized concert ticket into their hands.

One manifestation making the rounds in TikTok videos is: “I am worthy of experiencing the magic of Taylor Swift’s concert. The universe conspires to bring me to the front row. I attract positivity and abundance in all areas of my life including getting tickets to the concert.”

Those without a verified fan sale code could be out of luck since no general public ticket sales have been announced yet. But at least one other opportunity will be available to Royal Bank customers who are Avion Rewards members — they will get their own ticket sale window following the verified fan sale dates.

Miri Makin, co-founder of TSwift Dance Party Canada, said various members of her family have all signed up for the verified fan sale to increase her chance of getting a presale code.

“Everyone I know, honestly, registered without me even asking because they know what a huge fan I am,” Makin said. “It is such a wild phenomenon that the tickets sell out so quickly that you have to have a strategy going into it.”

The 31-year-old, who hosts Taylor Swift-inspired dance events across Canada, said she recently went to battle for Swift’s Paris presale tickets, waiting in the online queue for three hours before Ticketmaster ultimately rescheduled the sale.

Makin is hopeful the staggered sale dates and times for the Toronto shows will encourage fans to try for the next date if they are unable to get tickets on the first try.

“(Ticketmaster) is probably learning every time this happens … so fingers crossed, we’re the first time it does go right,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.

Nairah Ahmed, The Canadian Press