Look what she made them do.
Diehard fans have been camping in tents for months ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Argentina next week, according to reports.
The superfan Swifties are sticking close to Buenos Aires’ River Plate Stadium in hopes of snagging the best general admission spots in the house for a trio of sold-out shows Nov. 9, 10 and 11.
Snaking lines to snag Swift’s merch at previous tour stops has nothing on this wait.
“We’ve been in this tent for five months,” a 21-year-old fan, who requested to remain anonymous, told Pitchfork.
She admitted her parents aren’t aware of her sleeping arrangements, holding her place in line between her college classes and part-time job, revealing that she usually says she’s “visiting a friend” near the stadium.
And she’s not alone — scores of tents line the sidewalk, appearing something like summer camp, friendship bracelets included.
One fan named Carmen said she’s spent 300 hours, or just over 12 days, sleeping outside in line. The makeshift campground’s co-organizers keep track of the participants, who must be over the age of 18.
Tickets to the coveted world tour have been few and far between, regardless of the tour stop — unlucky fans who didn’t receive entry to the presale were forced to fork over hundreds, if not thousands, for their seats. For those holding only floor tickets for next week’s shows, the stakes have never been higher to see their favorite pop star.
The earlier the Swifties took their place in the line of tents, the better chance they’ll have at securing a spot close to the stage.
Fans aren’t mandated to stay in the tents all day every day to keep their spot in line, although the ones who do earn brownie points among organizers.
“The fact that there are so many people makes things easier. We all have different schedules, and you fit yours amongst them,” said one fan named Irina, 20.
But an internal list of rules was leaked online, which allotted extra hours as a reward to sticking out inclement weather or spending a full night on the concrete.
Organizers do, however, mandate one full night’s worth of sleep and a minimum of 60 hours spent per month in the tents to remain in the line.
If Swifties can’t make it to their tents but don’t want to lose their spot, they can enlist the help of pop music superfans Debora and Sofia, who run an X account dedicated to camping out for concerts and offering their services of waiting in line for others.
They charge eager customers for travel expenses and the service fee, totaling around $700 Argentine pesos, which is equivalent to $2 USD, according to estimates from Pitchfork. Argentina is currently suffering from hyperinflation.
“I’ve been camping for myself since the One Direction show in Vélez Sarsfield Stadium back in 2014,” Sofia told a reporter. “After witnessing a good result for my efforts show after show, I continued doing so and started to help others earlier this year.”
However, the price of camping costs Swifties more than just their time or the pain of sleeping on cement sidewalks — they’ve reportedly experienced regular heckling, as passersby hurl insults such as “Do you work?” “Do you study” or “Do you shower?”
But with less than a week until the first Eras Tour show in Buenos Aires, fans are buzzing with anticipation, although they say they feel a twinge of sadness that their campground fun is coming to an end.
“I don’t like the idea of there being a little time left,” Carmen said. “The day will come and then what? 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?”
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