Taylor Swift terror plot: Kiwi family affected by the Eras Tour cancellation in Vienna

Taylor Swift’s three Eras Tour shows in Vienna have been cancelled. Photo / Getty Images

Warning: mention of violence and terrorism

• Taylor Swift’s three Eras Tour shows in Vienna have been cancelled ‘for everyone’s safety’ after government officials confirmed there had been plans of a terrorist attack. The news was announced via Barracuda Music’s Instagram page today.
• Two suspected extremists were targeting the Taylor Swift tour, police say, and were detained in Austria, with one confessing his plans to drive a car into a crowd of fans outside the venue and attack them with machetes.
• A Kiwi fan with tickets to one of the Vienna shows contacted the Herald after the plot’s discovery.

Following the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Vienna due to a terrorist threat, many fans are equally disappointed and thankful for the last-minute decision. A Kiwi who had bought tickets to one of the shows tells the Herald how she felt when they heard the news — and how she broke the news to her kids.

Taylor Swift was set to play three sold-out shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, this weekend when they were cancelled due to asuspected terrorist attack plot.

Kiwi Anna Hill, who is based in Barcelona, planned on taking her two daughters, Saskia, 12, and Estée, 8, to the third night of the Austrian leg of shows after they failed to secure tickets to see Swift during her last tour in Aotearoa.

“We had promised our oldest daughter Saskia that the next time Taylor Swift toured, we would try to get tickets as she was too young for the Reputation tour in Auckland,” she told the Herald.

Managing to nab the highly coveted tickets a year before the concert, Hill says they felt “lucky” considering how in-demand Swift’s Eras Tour has been.

In the year that followed, she says the family had been listening to songs, outfit planning and “dreaming of receiving the 22 hat”, a tradition Swift has started during the tour, in preparation for the singer’s extravaganza show.

But the excited build-up to the big event made the cancellation even more shattering.

Taylor Swift fans without tickets dance in front of the Veltins Arena during the pop singer's July concert in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Photo / Getty Images

“Knowing we were going to the concert has got Saskia through some really tough times, so telling my daughters Saskia and Estée was devastating, lots of tears and grief”, she told the Herald.

However, Hill said she and her family were grateful the planned attacks had been discovered before anyone got hurt. “It could have been so much worse.”

Yesterday, Taylor Swift’s three Eras Tour shows in Vienna were cancelled “for everyone’s safety” after government officials confirmed there had been plans of a terrorist attack. The news was announced via Barracuda Music’s Instagram page.

One person wrote on the post: “Honestly as sad as I am about this, I would rather have all the swifties Taylor and myself safe from any harm. The world is a scary place. This really sucks, but it’s the right call.”

Another said: “This is so horrific. So happy everyone is ok and this was stopped!”

Those set to attend the shows at Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday have been offered full refunds within 10 business days.

Two suspected extremists were targeting the Taylor Swift tour, police say, and were detained in Austria.

A 19-year-old Austrian citizen confessed his plans to drive a car into a crowd of fans outside the venue and attack them with machetes, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Bang Showbiz reports the 17-year-old suspect involved in the plot had started working at the arena only days before.

Megan Watts is a lifestyle multimedia journalist who has been working for the Herald since 2022.