Taylor Swift takes the stage at the Rogers Centre as ‘The Eras Tour’ has arrived.
Fifty-thousand excited “Swifties” from far and wide flooded the city hours before the concert started at 6:45 p.m.
Follow along as CTV News Toronto provides LIVE updates throughout the day:
6:45 p.m.
The first night of Toronto’s “Eras Tour” leg has officially kicked off as opener Gracie Abrams performs in front of the sold-out arena.
Abrams’ song “us.”, featuring Taylor Swift, has been nominated for a Grammy for the 67th annual awards.
6:15 p.m.
Ottawa’s Jack Laidlaw was recently diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia type 4,a rare genetic disease.
“What it means is the neurons that connect the brain to his lower body are slowly deteriorating and he’s slowly becoming paralyzed,” his father explained.
After his diagnosis and speaking with researchers in the U.S., the family decided to raise $3 million in an effort to get a cure for Jack. In that fundraiser, Taylor Swift tickets were donated and sold for $20,000 to the highest bidder, but an anonymous donor matched that donation.
“The lady that bought the tickets donated the tickets back to the original girls, who then sent us to Taylor Swift.”Jack told CP24 he is going to “have a blast” at the Swift concert tonight.
5:45 p.m.
A mother and daughter drove from North Carolina to Toronto, bearing signs in hopes to find tickets to tonight’s sold-out performance.
The duo originally had tickets for Vienna’s tour stops, which was cancelled due to a foiled plot to attack Swift’s concerts in Austria.
“We have not gotten tickets yet. We are hoping to get tickets from StubHub. After they go on stage, it usually drops a couple $100,” the mom told CP24’s Leena Latafat and Bakari Savage.
5:25 p.m.
One mother from Cape Breton flew to Toronto with her daughter, telling CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman she hopes they can still score tickets for Thursday’s concert so they can join their friends who did manage to get seats.
The mom holds a sign that reads: “Tryin 2B World’s Best Mom!! Flew From Cape Breton. #TixPlease.”
5 p.m.
Fans who failed to buy tickets to tonight’s show still have the opportunity to do so – that is, if they have money to burn.
Currently, the cheapest resale tickets are going for just over $1,960 a pop while most expensive resale ticket is listed for $9,779 on StubHub for Section 129.
Despite having sold out general sale tickets months ago, Ticketmaster appears to have released additional tickets to registered fans within the hours before the show is slated to start.
Ticketmaster appears to have released additional tickets to registered fans within the hours before the show is slated to start.
4:30 p.m.
Fans are now being let in through the gates of the Rogers Centre, with the concert expected to start with opener Gracie Abrams at 6:45 p.m.
As a reminder, the venue has said it will not accept screenshots of ticket barcodes and paper or PDF tickets.
Swifties unsure of what bags they can bring can check out this ultimate guide for do’s and don’ts ahead of the show.
4:10 p.m.
Fifty-thousand fans will soon be able to head inside the Rogers Centre, as the gates open in just half-an-hour.
Speaking to Swifties ahead of the inaugural Toronto show, CTV News Toronto’s Sean Leathong spoke with fans from all over the place, from Vancouver to Las Vegas.
Beckey and Isabelle Moore said they initially had tickets for “The Eras Tour” show in Vienna, which was abruptly cancelled due to a foiled terror plot.
Check out here how the city is embracing the “Bejeweled” singer and what outfits Taylor Swift fans are going to shake things off in at tonight’s performance.
3:45 p.m.
Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw tells CP24 how officers are patrolling the area as well as engaging with the community.
“We are resourced in a way that helps us prepare for these big events, but, of course, it is a strain on cost, and Toronto is impacted by world events and different scope and scale of events in a unique way,” Demkiw said, in response to the question of how the cost is impacting the service.
“That’s always a budgetary discussion and concern as we respond to more events and big events that come to our city.”
3:35 p.m.
Toronto Police Service horses are even enchanted by the Pennsylvania-born singer.
CP24’s Steve Ryan snapped a photo of two police horses donning an oversized friendship bracelet around their necks, one that reads “Reputation” and the other reading “Debut TV”.
3:30 p.m.
The Grammy-award winning singer is officially in Toronto.
A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service confirmed to CTV News Toronto that Taylor Swift’s motorcade has already passed by along the Gardiner Expressway.
“Traffic would have been temporarily interrupted while the motorcade made is way downtown, but the Gardiner wasn’t ‘closed,’ per say,” Stephanie Sayer said in an emailed statement.
3:15 p.m.
More and more fans flood the downtown core as time gets closer to when Taylor Swift takes the stage at the Rogers Centre.
Though now it’s just hours away, attending the experience has been a year in the making for a family of four from Orangeville, Ont., who were some of the lucky few who could snag tickets when they first released on Ticketmaster.
Core memories are being made. What a special day we get to have with them. We got our tissues ready,” one mom told CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman.
2:30 p.m.
Though the gates at the Rogers Centre won’t open for another two hours, Swifties from far and wide have already descended upon the city in glittery or on-theme attire for “The Eras Tour.”
Fans are also armed with friendship bracelets, and some are even sporting the number 13 – a nod to the superstar’s lucky number (and her birthday, as the singer-songwriter is born on Dec. 13).
Swifties can start lining up at the arena at 3:30 p.m.
2 p.m.
It’s standard at any Taylor Swift concert now to sport a beaded friendship-bracelet and trade them with other Swifties – but the exchange is already starting well outside the Rogers Centre.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ontario Provincial Police shared how one of their officers was enchanted by Swifties en route to the sold-out show.
“These Swifties shared their excitement – and a few friendship bracelets too! Stay safe and have fun this weekend, Swifties!” the post reads.
1:35 p.m.
Two unhoused individuals who were living near the Rogers Centre were relocated to a shelter hotel ahead of the influx of Swifties making their way to the downtown core.
The city said they were living in Roundhouse Park, and while they accepted to move into the permanent shelter program, staff said they are “currently assisting” two more unhoused individuals at the park. Police confirmed to CP24 they attended the park, but said they “did not move individuals or clear any encampments.”
A spokesperson for the city said it’s common practice to look at “all aspects of safety for residents, businesses and visitors when large-scale events occur” and that the Rogers Centre area was “prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors.”
For more on the story, read here.
1 p.m.
Swifties searching for something to do ahead of the inaugural Toronto concert are starting to gather at “Taylgate ‘24,” a pre-concert celebration of Swift fandom. The event is happening at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, which is conveniently located down the street from the Rogers Centre.
This ticketed event ($55 per person) is open to all fans – whether they have tickets to the concert or not – until 11 p.m., and will be running on every performance day starting at 1 p.m.
There will be sing-alongs, bracelet-making stations and glam stations for fans to get completely immersed in “The Eras Tour” spirit.
12:35 p.m.
Destination Toronto has said $282 million is expected to get injected into Toronto’s economy as a result of Taylor Swift’s sold-out shows, with $152 million coming from direct spending alone.
Toronto appears to be feeling its Taylor Swift era, with the popstar getting a street named in her honour and a bubble-lettered friendship-bracelet sprawled over the entrance at Rogers Centre.
“It seems like the whole city is jumping in. We have hotels that have packages, the Bisha has a Taylor Swift-themed room,” Destination Toronto’s Kathy Motton said.
10:30 a.m.
Boston mother Annelle Stuppy surprised her 10-year-old daughter Evie with a birthday trip to Toronto to see Taylor Swift on Thursday. But Stuppy still has to buy tickets for the show from the secondary market and is hoping that prices come down just before showtime. She told CP24 that she has been monitoring recent Swift concert dates and observed somewhat lower prices on StubHub as the shows got closer. She is hoping that trend holds true in Toronto, where tickets have been selling for north of $2,000 a pop on the secondary market. But she is also resigned to the tickets still being “the most pricy” part of the birthday trip.
“She (Swift) is just such s a powerful business woman. She is smart, she is savvy, she doesn’t let anyone take advantage of her and as far as a mom goes you couldn’t ask for a better pop singer role model to have for a pre teen,” Stuppy said.
9:45 a.m.
Taylor Swift tickets sold out nearly instantly when they first went on sale last year and since then have been fetching premium prices on the secondary market. As of 9:45 a.m., the cheapest seat listed on StubHub for tonight’s show was available for $2,155 but offered an obstructed view in the 500 level. The cheapest floor seat was listed for more than $3,200.
9:30 a.m.
The city will be closing the westbound lanes on Bremner Boulevard between Rees Street and Navy Wharf as of 1 p.m. amid an expected influx of concert goers. The city also says that there will be additional spot road closures for crowd and traffic management during and immediately following the concerts. Meanwhile, GO Transit has added additional trains on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines. There will also be special nighttime service on the Milton, Kitchener, Barrie and Stouffville lines on concert days.
9 a.m.
The city has said that it is expecting over 500,000 visitors over the course of Swift’s 10-day stay in Toronto. CP24 spoke with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie about the potential economic impact earlier on Thursday morning.
“About 93 per cent of spending will be by visitors to our city and that is at a time when we don’t have a lot of major events going on with a lot of revenue being generated,” she said. “So we are certainly welcoming the $283 million in spending that is expected by Swifties over the course of the concerts.”
8:30 a.m.
One Taylor Swift fan who spoke with CP24 outside the Rogers Centre on Thursday morning was still pulling along a suitcase after arriving in Toronto on a flight from Mexico hours prior. The fan, Fergie, said that she previously attended one of the Eras Tour shows in Mexico City and had tickets to see Swift in Vienna prior to those shows being cancelled due to a foiled terror plot.
“It is like the last chance so I wanted to be here,” she said of Swift’s shows, which are among the final dates on the Eras Tour.