Swifties have proven just how far they’re willing to go for Taylor Swift since the Eras Tour announced, with the most dedicated of fans waiting for hours in a virtual queue amid the big Ticketmaster fiasco to try to score tickets. That’s not to mention the thousands of dollars spent to see Swift in person on her first tour in five years, putting together tour outfits and making friendship bracelets. Swifties in Argentina, however, have leveled up on their fandom, as they have been camping out outside the venue for more than five months ahead of the November shows.
Taylor Swift is playing three concerts in Buenos Aires, starting on November 9, but hundreds of fans have been living in tents outside of the stadium for a good portion of the year — some even before tickets went on sale, Pitchfork reports. Swifties are on a carefully planned rotating schedule, hoping to get as close as possible to the artist at showtime. Irina, a 20-year-old fan, said:
The fact that there are so many people makes things easier. We all have different schedules, and you fit yours amongst them.
Most of the campers are in possession of general admission tickets, so they want to be the first ones in the venue to secure the best spots. Organizers of the four tents — which are rotating about 60 Swifties apiece — keep a spreadsheet of each fan’s total time spent in the tent, scheduling their shifts around work and school, but the more hours logged, the closer to the front of the line you’ll be.
The tent-dwellers are required to follow a list of rules, which dictate that fans must spend a minimum 60 hours per month in the tent to maintain their spot. Nobody is required to stay in the tent 24 hours a day, but everyone must spend the night at least once a month, and double hours are given for camping during storms and overnight.
It’s not just the weather and rough sleeping conditions that the Swifties have to contend with, though, as they’ve apparently been heckled by those who don’t understand the fandom. One fan, Carmen — who's apparently logged more than 300 hours — said:
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.
So what do they do all day in the tents? Wi-Fi is reportedly spotty, so when not keeping up with their studies, many of the fans are — of course — making friendship bracelets to exchange with fellow Swifties and certainly gearing up to participate in all of the other interactive elements of the Eras Tour.
After months of adjusting their lives in order to wait for the Eras Tour to come to Argentina, these fans are finally days away from seeing Taylor Swift in the flesh. Hopefully it’s better than their wildest dreams, and thankfully with this artist, there’s always plenty for Swifties to look forward to.
