Indy, Beech Grove prepare to welcome Swifties for The Eras Tour
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A Taylor Swift graphic greets travelers at the Indianapolis International Airport. (Provided photo/Visit Indy)
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A special Taylor Swift IndyCar and 13 helmets representing each era (Provided photo/Visit Indy)
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32 city street signs across Indianapolis were renamed in honor of Taylor Swift. (Provided Photo/Visit Indy)
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The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis created dinosaur sized friendship bracelets (Provided Photo/Visit Indy)
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The Indiana State Museum is lit up ahead of its Tay/gate event. (Provided Photo/Visit Indy)
After more than a year of planning, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has arrived in downtown Indianapolis. The record-breaking concert tour is happening at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Visit Indy is hoping the nearly 200,000 fans expected this weekend write their own love story with the Circle City during their visit.
“The Taylor Swift weekend is set to be the all-time largest driving force for any concert in the history of Indy tourism and so it’s just hard to put your arms around just the total economic impact. We know it’s going to be a healthy nine figures,” Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy, said. “It’s so complex when you think of hotels being virtually sold out and commanding two or three times the rate they would normally over this weekend. Airbnb and short-term rentals are up 207% year over year for this weekend in terms of bookings.”
Gahl is one of the masterminds behind the three night event, which is Swift’s ninth time performing in Indianapolis. Even if you don’t have a ticket, you’re invited to just show up at the party and experience one of the 50+ Taylor Swift themed events around “Swift City.”
READ MORE: Traffic plans, pop-up performances unveiled for Taylor Swift weekend
“It’ll be very clear from the from the moment you hit the airport all the way through the downtown that she’s here, and we’ve made it a big deal,” Gahl said.
Indianapolis isn’t the only city that’s ready for Swift’s arrival. Beech Grove has renamed itself Beech Grove (Taylor’s Version) and has its own celebration planned.
“There’s so many people here locally who wanted to go to the concerts who weren’t able to,” Mayor James Coffman said. “[For] everybody here who wants to partake in the festivities and the activities and get just a glimpse into the Taylor Swift world, they can come here.”
Businesses are offering special menus and a block party is scheduled for Saturday night. Coffman hopes the concerts are an opportunity for Swifties to become enchanted with Beech Grove and return to the area.
“They may come here for the specials that they have that weekend, but in the long run, our goal is to get them to come back to experience everything that Main Street has to offer,” Coffman said. “There’s this huge economic potential for the city of Beech Grove, and if people come and spend just $1 here in our city, I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”
More than 80% of ticket holders are coming from outside the state, including C-suite executives. For the Visit Indy team, it’s a chance to showcase Indianapolis and potentially fill in a blank space on the calendar.
“We’re excited to have prospective conventions, conventions that have never booked Indianapolis, that would not be on the ground in our suite if not for this weekend,” Gahl said. “We hope that they will come to Indy, have a positive experience and leave knowing that we can host these large, very complex events.”
MORE: Our partners at the IBJ will have ongoing updates related to the Taylor Swift festivities this weekend.