By Holly Honderich, BBC News, Washington
It’s a good time to be a Swiftie. The 33-year-old songwriter is in the midst of her biggest stadium tour yet — a three-hour, 40-song set spanning every era of her career — and she’s released four albums and two reissues since 2019 , including the beloved 2010 record Speak Now, which was just released Friday.
But Taylor Swift’s Canadian fans aren’t as thrilled. His Eras Tour, which began in March, includes more than 100 concerts through summer 2024, across the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia. But so far at least, Swift has no plans to perform in Canada. Did she forget it existed?
This apparent snub prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to personally appeal to Swift. After announcing 14 more shows next year in the UK and Europe, Mr Trudeau appeared in his Twitter responses asking him to reconsider his decision.
“It’s me, hi,” Mr. Trudeau wrote, referring to Swift’s song Anti-Hero. “I know there are places in Canada that would love to have you. So don’t have another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon.”
It seems Mr. Trudeau speaks for many other Swifties who feel exiled to the North and wonder why they can’t have nice things.
“It’s devastation,” said Leila Title, 33, a marketing director from Toronto. “Disappointment is the best way to describe it.”
At first, the headline assumed that Swift would include Canadian dates with her other international stops. But when concerts in Mexico and South America were broadcast with nothing planned north of the U.S. border, she began to worry it might be a problem.
“I still think it’s possible, I still have to think it’s possible,” he said of a Canadian tour. “But that’s becoming less and less likely.”
Jackie Engelberg, another Toronto native, was hoping to see Swift at one of her shows in New York last May, her “only option” without any stops in Canada. But despite Ms. Engelberg’s best efforts – “fighting Ticketmaster bots, braving resale sites” – she was unable to find an affordable ticket.
So, like Ms. Title, Ms. Engelberg thought she would wait for the announcement of a Canadian tour.
“Every other tour she’s done, even the stadium tours, has included Canadian dates at a minimum,” Engelberg said. But when the opportunity for a Canadian announcement came and went, she worried that she had missed a Taylor Swift tour — a first in Ms. Engelberg’s longtime fandom.
“I am obviously extremely disappointed, as are all my fellow Swifties in Canada,” Ms. Engelberg said.
She was particularly surprised to see small cities like Warsaw being selected for a series of three shows, while Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America, was left out.
“Given the huge population of our city and all the fans here, I’m sure Taylor would fill several stadiums,” Ms. Engelberg said.
So why is Taylor Swift leaving Canada?
She still hasn’t told us why. No reason was provided by Swift or her team and her label did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Some have speculated that it might depend on the size of the venue. Canada’s largest arena, Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, seats just over 56,300 spectators, a fraction of the capacity of venues like Wembley in London – 90,000 – or MetLife in New Jersey – 82,500.
But that doesn’t mean Swift avoids all small venues. She has given two concerts at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which seats 50,000, and will play one evening at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, which can accommodate just under 51,000 spectators.
Others wonder if it’s the weakness of the Canadian dollar against the American currency – the exchange rate currently sits between CA$1.33 and CA$1.00.
But that hasn’t stopped other major artists, including Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran, from stopping in the Great White North.
For now at least, Swift’s silence has left her Canadian fans wishing she would.
“All I want is for Taylor to come here,” Ms. Title said. “And I would fly across the country.”
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