Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is soon to come to the UK, kicking off with Edinburgh on June 7 before heading to Liverpool, Cardiff, and London.
Hundreds of thousands of Swifties will flock to those cities for the singer’s colourful shows, including more than 150,000 in Liverpool.
In order to prepare for the events on June 13, 14, and 15, Liverpool City Council has plans to turn the city into ‘Taylor Town’ for one week.
Taylor Town will involve a trail of 11 art installations throughout the city, each inspired by a different one of Swift’s eras. The installation will be open to both fans, showgoers, and locals alike from June 8.
The council has said that Liverpool One, Royal Albert Dock, the Metquarter, and eight other locations will be decorated to reflect each of Swift's albums, forming the trail through the city.
Liverpool City Council hopes the trail will keep fans in the city before and after the shows, boosting spending in the city.
Social enterprise Make CIC and artists have worked with Culture Liverpool to curate the installations, which will include:
- An Evermore-inspired moss-covered grand piano
- A 'red room' linked to the Red album
- Giant hearts in tribute to Lover
- A Fearless-inspired mural incorporating the number 13
Councillor Harry Doyle said embracing Swift's arrival was very much in the spirit of the city's musical and cultural past, as the home of The Beatles, Lightning Seeds and Atomic Kitten.
“If there was ever going to be a city that would go all-out with a welcome for Taylor Swift and the Swifties, it was bound to be Liverpool," he told the BBC.
Other fields are also embracing the Taylor Swift effect, with academics in the city preparing for her arrival with a conference to "debate and deconstruct" her work.
The University of Liverpool will host Tay Day on June 12, centred around a "symposium for fans, students and academics to engage with the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift".
