CELEBRITY
Will Taylor Swift’s London Eras Tour Shows Go Ahead After the Foiled Terror Plot in Vienna? Here is what we know
Taylor Swift fans in London are preparing for her return to the city, as she is set to play five shows at Wembley Stadium between Aug. 15 and Aug. 20. But in light of the uncovered foiled terrorist attacks connected to her three concerts in Vienna, Austria—and the subsequent cancellation of those concerts—many fans are wondering if the U.K. shows will go ahead.
Swift—TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year—has yet to make a statement about the planned attack, nor about her upcoming London Shows, the next in her Eras Tour—a concert series that has become the highest grossing tour ever at over $1 billion.
As of Sunday, Swift’s official website shows that the London dates are still a-go. Furthermore, multiple London officials have made statements to ensure the public knows that safety is a top priority and that they will keep new information under “careful review.”
“There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London,” a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police—the police force for Greater London—told TIME in an emailed statement on Sunday.
“The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place.” On Thursday, the U.K.’s Minister for Policing, Diana Johnson, stated on British radio station LBC that the police will be on high alert for the London shows. “Clearly, the police will be looking at all the intelligence and making decisions, they risk-assess every event that happens in this country, and that’s something for the police,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, corroborated that the Swift shows will go ahead in England’s capital city. “We’re going to carry on, working closely with police [and] ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely,” Khan told Sky News.
Wembley Stadium has yet to release an official statement regarding any new safety precautions in relation to Swift’s upcoming concerts, but on the website’s Eras Tour-specific page, the venue states that “no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium.” This statement was in place back when the pop star came to Wembley in June.
On Aug. 7, Swift’s three sold-out shows at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna were canceled by organizers, following the arrest of two people who allegedly plotted a terrorist attack in Vienna, authorities said. During a press conference in the Austrian capital on Friday, it was announced that a third suspect had been arrested in connection to the foiled plot.