LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun
AMERICAN POP STAR Taylor Swift is set to take to the stage of the Aviva Stadium from tonight, 28 June, for the Dublin edition of her acclaimed Eras tour which she has been touring around the world.
It’s set to be a busy weekend for the capital city. Swift is commanding a lot of the attention with her three-day stint the stadium, second in capacity only to Croke Park, which sold out as soon as it went on sale last summer.
It’s not the only event on over the weekend in Dublin, however: Dublin’s Pride Festival is beginning today and is to continue until Saturday; Longitude is on in Marlay Park; Shania Twain, the Patti Smith Quartet, Saw Doctors, Villagers and Loyle Carner are all also playing gigs; two GAA quarter-finals are taking place in Croke Park; and Flavours of Fingal is happening in north county Dublin.
Despite the busyness of the city over the coming days, it is Taylor Swift’s visit that is attracting the largest amount of international visitors. On Tuesday, The Journal reported that a number of fans have been forced to change their concert plans as a result of the Aer Lingus industrial action.
If you’re one of the many attending the shows – or if you’re just interested – here’s everything you need to know.
Attendees of Swift’s previous concerts on the tour have reported a set of up to three and a half hours as the singer makes her way through the various ‘eras’ of her career.
Doors for the show open at 5pm, with the show starting at 6pm.
The support act, American rock band Paramore, are due to begin at 6pm, and are estimated to perform for roughly 45 minutes. Swift should take to the stage not long after, around 7.30pm. Swift should be wrapped up by shortly before 11pm.
Organisers for the show have warned that strictly no early queuing or camping is permitted. Patrons with early entry VIP tickets will be granted access shortly before general doors.
Customers are advised to arrive at the venue 45 minutes before the start of the show. Gardaí and security will be on patrol and will turn away anyone arriving early who does not have an early entry ticket.
In the light of the extreme numbers gathering for the tour over the weekend, it was announced last week that leave for gardaí had been cancelled for the final days of June as the three days have been declared by garda management as an “extraordinary event”.
Weather in Dublin is forecast to be mostly cloudy this evening, with a high of 18 degrees in the early evening. Organisers have warned attendees to dress for the weather and bear any forecast in mind.
What does that look like in practice? Swift fans have been going above and beyond in organising their outfits to attend shows across Europe, with many dressing up as their favourite ‘era’. Some went to painstaking lengths to bedazzle bodysuits, boots, and accessories with rhinestones to mimic Swift’s tour outfits.
The majority of fans, while not going to such levels of effort, are still choosing to dress for the occasion, with cowboy boots, mini-dresses, fringed skirts and the like all being showcased on TikTok as their chosen outfit to attend one of the gigs.
An easier way of meeting the ‘dress code’ so to speak, is acquiring a friendship bracelet. Friendship bracelets have become a symbol of Swifties, apparently due to Swift’s lyric “so, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” in her song You’re On Your Own, Kid.
Taylor Swift-related friendship bracelets are usually comprised of beads with letters, spelling something Swiftian, such as album names or song titles.
If you have booked a ticket for the show, you should have received a PDF with information relating to the event.
The main points to make note of are: queue at the gate indicated on your ticket, dress for the weather, and be prepared to be searched by security prior to entering the venue.
Reusable bottles are not permitted. Clear, soft plastic water bottles, not bigger than 500ml, are allowed. There are no storage facilities at the venue. A list of prohibited items can be viewed here.
There are no re-admissions to the concert. If you leave at any point, there will be no re-entry.
The Aviva Stadium is a cashless venue.
Organisers are strongly urging concert-goers to use public transport to reach the venue. There is no parking at the venue. If you are travelling by car, car parks in the city centre must be used. If you are getting a taxi to the venue, suggested locations are the junction of Pembroke Road/Northumberland Road, or the junction of Tritonville Road and Herbert Road, depending on which colour road your ticket is for.
MCD, the organisers of the event, have stated that the Aviva Stadium is a residential area, and are appealing to all attendees to respect the local community by not littering, not engaging in anti-social behaviour, and not parking illegally.
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