Taylor Swift fans express heartbreak, fear and relief after terror threat stops shows
By Isaac Yee, Jessie Yeung and Samra Zulfaqar, CNN
(CNN) — Tiffany Kidd, a 41-year-old nurse from Arizona, had never left the United States – but Taylor Swift was worth it.
She bought her ticket last summer, and since then has gotten her first passport, sewn several Swift-inspired outfits and spent $5,000 to fly to Vienna to watch the superstar perform live in concert.
But her dreams ended in disappointment on Wednesday after organizers canceled all three shows scheduled for the Austrian capital following authorities’ discovery of an alleged terror plot to attack the venue.
With shows scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, Vienna’s Ernst-Happel Stadium was supposed to be the penultimate venue on the European leg of Swift’s global Eras Tour, which has passed through Asia, Australia and the Americas since March last year.
Fans have flocked to see Swift from all corners of the world, with many saving up for the occasion and going the extra mile to show their love and support for the star. The blockbuster tour has also become a multibillion-dollar force, with millions of Swifties in attendance giving an economic boost to its hosts.
Kidd, for instance, traveled 13 hours to Austria from Arizona after planning her trip for an entire year. But her homemade costumes, including a dazzling bodysuit, sequined jacket and lace dress emblazoned with Swift’s lyrics and motifs, will now go unworn.
The cancelations are “heartbreaking for sure,” she told CNN on Wednesday, adding that she was “a little shook” when the news emerged – but she was glad everybody was safe.
Barracuda Music, the promoter for Swift’s concerts in Austria, announced the cancelations on Wednesday, saying they had “confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack.” Swift’s official website also listed the concerts as canceled.
CNN has reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment.
Kardelen Kocakcigil, 30, said she was “heartbroken” after traveling from Toronto to Vienna via Istanbul – a journey of more than 24 hours.
She paid about $2,100 for the trip, including extra baggage charges for her Swift-themed costume, she said.
“My travel was planned around the concert, dressing up, meeting with my Swiftie friends around the world and going to Taylor Swift-themed attractions around the city,” she said.
“Now I don’t have any itinerary and my friends are not coming due to safety concerns. This trip turned from something I was looking forward to for over a year to aimless, expensive travel.”
Kocakcigil was glad everybody was safe, and believed that cancelation was the right decision, she added. But, exhausted from all the travel and stunned by the abrupt turn of events, she said she felt “very heartbroken and purposeless.”
Most fans had similar mixed feelings – thankful that the alleged planned terror plot had been foiled, yet extremely disappointed to see their Swift concert dreams evaporate.
Vanessa Szombathelyi, 24, traveled from Ireland to Hungary, where she planned to drive across the border to Austria for what would have been her first Swift concert.
“(I’m) feeling mixed emotions, everything from tears to being angry, mad and grateful,” that the alleged plot was thwarted, she said.
Another Swift fan, Denis Savić, 23, traveled to Vienna for the show from the Czech capital Prague. He initially thought reports of a terror threat were a prank by his friends – but felt “pretty scared” when he realized they were real, he said.
After looking forward to the shows for a year, he said he felt “crushed” when they were canceled. “I felt like something heavy was sitting on my chest,” he said.
Still, he understood the decision, adding: “I would rather not go to a show than potentially get hurt and have my mom hurt, because she was supposed to go to the show with me.”
His close friends and brother were also supposed to be in Vienna, so he was glad for their safety, too. With no show to attend, they were now scrambling to change their plans, he said.
Some fans came from as far away as China. Qin Lu, a student from eastern Zhejiang province who was making her first overseas trip, said she spent nearly $2,000 on travel and a concert ticket.
“I was completely stunned when I first saw the news,” she said. “But now I feel lucky – safety has to come first, after all.”
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CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed reporting.
