Die-hard Taylor Swift fans have been camping out for more than five months ahead of the singer’s next live show – and have even been making rankings to decide who the biggest fan is.
The pop megastar will return to her blockbuster Eras Tour this week after a three-month break, kicking off the international leg at the Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday.
After fighting to get tickets, around 240 fans have decided to camp outside the stadium, with Swifties setting up a points system and enforcing strict rules for those who want to camp out.
Four tents, each with around 60 people assigned to it, are in on the system with two organisers running things with a spreadsheet.
Most of the people camping out are young women, although all under 18s are banned.
Die-hard Taylor Swift fans have been camping out for more than five months ahead of the singer’s next live show – and have even been making rankings to decide who the biggest fan is. One fan is pictured on TikTok
The pop megastar will return to her blockbuster Eras Tour this week after a three-month break, kicking off the international leg at the Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday
The pop megastar will return to her blockbuster Eras Tour this week after a three-month break, kicking off the international leg at the Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday
Each person gets a ranking based on their time spent in the tent. Rules include spending a minimum of 60 hours a month, including one night, in the tent.
Extra points are given for camping during a storm.
A convenience store and petrol station nearby are used to get water, snacks and for bathroom breaks.
One fan, called Carmen, told Pitchfork she’d spent 300 hours – or 12 and a half days – in the tent.
‘What am I going to do with so much time at home, now that I won’t have to be making friendship bracelets all day inside a tent? Return to being a normal person?’ she added.
Another revealed she is lying to her father about going to the tent between her University classes and part time job.
But it’s not all fun and games, passersby shout ‘go to work’ and ‘vagos’ (slang for ‘lazy ones’) and the campers.
‘People are very upset with us camping for some reason,’ Carmen added.
Each person gets a ranking based on their time spent in the tent. Rules include spending a minimum of 60 hours a month, including one night, in the tent. The tents are pictured
The rules were leaked online last month, explaining campers must be inside for 60 hours a month
‘Sometimes you’re lying down, and you hear someone scream ‘”Go to work!” at 2 a.m. It’s like, “You’re the one who’s outside of a tent shouting at 2 in the morning—aren’t you supposed to work tomorrow? Does it really affect you that much? I’m the one who’s sleeping on the street, not you”‘.
Football fans heading into the stadium have been rowdy towards the Swifties however, shouting at them and calling them a ‘jinx’, but they say there have been no major disturbances.
On match days, there is usually a police officer guarding them to keep safe.
Some have even seen the business opportunity and are camping out of behalf of other Swifties.
Two girls – going by Debora and Sofia – charge 700 Argentine pesos an hour (about £1.64) to camp. They currently have four clients.
The lucrative Eras Tour is set to net the star a staggering $4.1 billion (£3.4billion) – the most an artist has ever made from a single tour in history.
The singer’s earnings solely from her worldwide tour are the equivalent of the economic output of 42 nations, according to estimates over her wealth from Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College, cited by the Washington Post.
It comes after a dispute over ticket sales earlier this year.
Fans have spoken to local media about their time in the queue (pictured)
The lucrative Eras Tour is set to net the star a staggering $4.1 billion (£3.4billion) – the most an artist has ever made from a single tour in history
Ticketmaster has come under fire for repeatedly changing policies ahead of the UK and international leg of the highly-anticipated tour.
In the US, Swift herself said she was ‘p***** off’ at the website after bots bought up the majority of tickets.
In the UK, Cardiff MP Kevin Brennan said that he was ‘appalled’ to see tickets being advertised on reselling sites within an hour of them going on sale.
‘As a father of a Swiftie, and I know that my honourable friend, the deputy shadow leader of the house, is also the mother of a Swiftie, I was appalled to see that within an hour of tickets going on sale for the Taylor Swift Concert at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, a ticket was on sale in the lower tier for £3,352,’ he said during business questions in the commons.
Fans have been left fuming at the changes, as at the time of the pre-sale Ticketmaster did not list the tour as a ‘lead booker’ event.
Tickets to Taylor’s UK shows appeared on platforms like Stubhub and viagogo within minutes of the general sale release, with one lower bowl seat to Blank Space singer’s concert at Wembley Stadium in London next year listed for more than £9,800.
Fans, pointed out how tickets with a face value of £170 were being sold for nearly £3,000, slammed the scalpers and so-called ‘vile’ fans for buying additional tickets and ‘selling them on for profit’.
But experts say the gold rush for Taylor tickets has revealed just how ‘sophisticated bots have become’ and how they are able to use ‘residential proxies’ in the UK to bypass the selling platform’s protective measures.