The Vienna leg of Taylor Swift's mega blockbuster Eras tour may have been canceled over an apparent terrorist attack plot, but that hasn't stopped her diehard fans from enjoying themselves.
Although disappointed after organizers canceled the concert on Wednesday, thousands of Swifties gathered in the streets of Vienna Thursday to sing the pop star's hits together and trade friendship bracelets, a trend popular at her concerts.
Videos from around the city show scores of fans, some dressed in elaborate concert outfits, taking over streets as they celebrated the music and embraced one another, belting out their favorite lyrics and dancing to their own beat.
While fans were heartbroken over the cancellation -- some traveled thousands of miles and spent thousands of dollars -- they understood the decision to call off the shows.
Sophie, a 13-year-old from Orinda in the San Francisco Bay Area, had been waiting to go to the concert for over a year.
"I was devastated. I was really in tears," she said. But then she heard about the "gatherings of the Swifties."
"They shut down the whole road. It was filled. And there was people holding speakers and songs and people just surrounded them. There's probably over 1,000 people there. It was a lot of people," Sophie said. "Exchanging bracelets is really fun because it's like a great way to connect with Swifties from other countries. I got so many different ones. They have meaning."
Sophie's mom Michelle said the experience turned out to be one of a lifetime.
"It's such -- it's a magical scene right now here because you have people from all over the world. I mean, we've met people from Romania, Australia, Spain, Israel, just in the last hour, and everyone is feeling the same things," she said. "It's soul healing. And it was cool just to be there. And, you know, people were crying. I mean, so many people just had tears coming down their face... it's just a cool thing that we all have in common that we can bond over."
The shows were planned for Aug 8-10 and were expected to draw 65,000 fans a day. Barracuda Music, promoters for the Austrian shows, made the revelation about the threat of terrorism on social media.
"With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety," reads the message. "All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days."
A 19-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested Wednesday morning and a second suspect was arrested in the afternoon. The pair allegedly had specific and detailed plans on how to carry out an attack. When the 19-year-old was taken into custody, a bomb squad allegedly found chemical substances at his residence, and they're working to determine if he was in the midst of building a bomb, authorities said.
The suspects had been radicalized online, and had allegedly pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State.
Swift has yet to personally issue a statement about her concerts being the target of a planned terrorist attack. In 2019 she told Elle Magazine that violence at one of her shows was her biggest worry.
"After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn't know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months," Swift said.
She added, "There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe."