Swiftmania sweeps Toronto: Taylor Swift’s Eras tour opens today at Rogers Centre

9:05 a.m. It’s only 9 a.m., but the excitement is starting to slowly bubble up outside the Rogers Centre, where a Taylor Swift impersonator decked out in a bright pink fur coat is regaling a small crowd of young fans with an energetic rendition of “Shake It Off.”

Zaylor Zwift is spending the day touring around the city with a small group of fans.  Decked out in a sparkling dress and a bright pink fur coat — Zwift led her troupe in a dance challenge soundtracked by “Shake It Off” underneath the CN Tower. After a few minutes, they hopped into a van and peeled away.

8:50 a.m. There’s another big concert happening in Toronto tonight, one of a few happening across the city. Don Toliver is performing at Scotiabank Area this evening. (Something some may not have realized when they purchased their tickets.)

8:45 a.m. The Hasty Market on Bremner Blvd is located very close to Rogers Centre and its staff say they are fully prepared for the influx of Swifties this weekend. Maitri, an employee at the convenient store, says they’ve stocked up on extra candy and extra beer.

“It will be good for business,” she says. “And good for us, because time will fly.”

8:33 a.m.  A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.

Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.

The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.

8:13 a.m. All is quiet outside of the Rogers Centre on chilly Thursday morning, some eight hours before doors open for the big event.

There of plenty of security barricades stacked up near the entrances, but nothing official has been set up so far.

Anna Ryan is prepared to commute at least two hours by car and TTC to see Taylor Swift perform.

Karen Chau is ready to walk an hour home if the subway is too crowded after the show.

Sheena Dela Cruz is also planning to walk home — even if it means she won’t get there until late, before her work shift the next morning.

7 a.m.: After 15 months, it’s finally here.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will open Thursday at the Rogers Centre. It marks the first of six sold-out shows that have been more than a year in the making and which are expected to bring Toronto’s downtown core to a standstill.

Toronto is the second-last stop on Swift’s two-year, 149-show, multibillion-dollar tour that long ago became the highest-grossing concert series of all time. Swift, the superstar of nearly two decades and author of hits including “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Shake It Off” and “Anti-Hero,” is expected to bring more than 500,000 visitors to the downtown core and more than $282 million in economic impact.

We are excited to have you and not at all fretting about traffic or Starbucks congestion. Are you jazzed? Ready to trigger seismic activity under the Rogers Centre? Ready to scream your lungs out as Taylor Swift finally brings her Eras Tour to town?

Here are some tips and fun facts to make your stay more enjoyable.

Rule No. 1: Leave plenty of time. If you are going to Thursday’s first show and the hotel concierge says it should take about 30 minutes, that person is a liar. Double all estimated travel times. Due to construction, Toronto has more lane closures than Florida has banned books. The Eglinton LRT line is now expected to open when Taylor and Travis are grandparents.

Emma Schmelzle was one of the lucky ones. Last August, she and her brother snagged tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Toronto for $91 each. The seats were partially obstructed, but the tickets were still a steal. A single Eras Toronto ticket is now selling for close to $3,000 at their cheapest on resale markets.

For more than a year, Schmelzle thought she was in the clear. Then, in September, her brother received an email: their tickets had been transferred out of his Ticketmaster account. Their chance to see one of the biggest tours in history was gone.

When fans converge on a convention centre in downtown Toronto this week, they’ll be talking about Taylor Swift and listening to her music, but they won’t see her name or photo in any official capacity — instead, the event is both literally and figuratively adjacent to the pop star and her mega-popular Eras Tour.

Though it may seem like a sheen of Swift is coating the city of Toronto, only some of the hoopla can really be counted as “Taylor’s Version.”

“This is adjacent to the brand, but this is not about Taylor,” said Bram Goldstein, organizer of the unofficial Swiftie event “Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ‘24.”

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but the Rolling Stones certainly gather the masses, especially in or near Toronto.

With Taylor Swift and her six-date run at Rogers Centre swiftly approaching, what better time to take a look at Toronto’s all-time biggest concerts.

Swift’s stadium history here has been impressive — she entertained 287,220 fans during six sellout Rogers Centre concerts between 2013 and 2018 — and she’ll easily surpass the half-million mark with her upcoming shows.

Gracie Abrams will hit the Eras Tour stage at the Rogers Centre as the opener for Taylor Swift. (Maybe you’ve heard of her?)

Maybe you’re so familiar with Abrams that you’ve thrown your volume of Robert Bly poems at a wall as you rage belt out “Us,” her duet with Swift. Perhaps you only know her because your Gen Z cousin refused to play anything but “Close To You” at your last family gathering. Or maybe the first you’d heard of her was when gossip account DeuxMoi posted that Abrams and actor Paul Mescal were spotted looking cosy on the streets of London this summer.

Finally, it’s almost here. On Thursday, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour — the two-year, 51-stop, 149-show, five-continent, multibillion-dollar behemoth — arrives in Toronto. Swift will play six sold-out shows at the Rogers Centre spanning two weekends in the second-last stop of her career-defining tour.

Eras, the highest-grossing tour of all time, has spawned the highest-grossing concert film ever and made Swift the most famous entertainer on the planet.

Toronto will become the centre of the Taylor Swift universe as the international megastar plays the Rogers Centre for six sold-out shows.

It’s been a long time coming. Rogers spent millions on renovations. Toronto renamed the path from Nathan Phillips Square to the Rogers Centre “Taylor Swift Way.” City staff even activated the emergency operations centre, just in case anything goes wrong.

For good reason. The city is expecting up to 500,000 visitors during the concerts and an economic impact of more than $282 million.

The city of Toronto is clearing tents belonging to homeless people near the Rogers Centre in preparation for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The first of Swift’s six sold-out concerts is on Thursday.

“The individuals surrounding Rogers Centre are being offered a space in the city’s shelter system to help ensure their safety,” a city spokesperson said in an email.

The city said only two people were living in the area. One of them, Chris — who goes by Crystofur and didn’t want their last name used due to their circumstances — told the Star on Tuesday they were being moved to a hotel paid for by the city.

Wearing only a black T-shirt, jeans and wrist full of friendship bracelets, Bridget Saric embraced the Canadian cold.

She had been in it for only a few minutes, standing at the back of the line for Taylor Swift gear outside the Rogers Centre. Originally from Queensland, Australia, and now living in London, England, Bridget had flown to Toronto for the Eras Tour — her 15th time seeing the concert — with parents Lisa and Spock.

“It’s very cold,” said Saric, 21, her vowel-heavy Aussie accent sending vapour into the early-morning sun. “I don’t want to carry around two jumpers, so I was like, ‘I’ll buy one here.’”

Taylor Swift is expected to cost Toronto millions in extra services such as transit and policing but the exact amount will remain a secret — for now.

The TTC said it anticipates a bill of $1 million to $1.2 million across the six shows scheduled for the Rogers Centre.

That amount is going toward adding a “significant amount of extra service,” said Stuart Green, spokesperson for the transit agency, in an email to the Star.

Toronto Humane Society launches new Taylor Swift campaign to inspire local cat lovers

The Toronto Humane Society is celebrating the arrival of Taylor Swift with a unique cat adoption campaign inspired by the singer.

The charity has welcomed seven new kittens, Kelce, Reputation, Dorothea, Benjamin, Taylor, Karma, and Travis, all named after some of Swift’s famous lyrics and themes.

These kittens join 10 shelter cats, Folklore, Red, Midnights, Willow, August, Evermore, Champagne, Swiftie, Marjorie, and Cornelia, who have also been named as a tribute to the singer.