Taylor Swift Eras Tour arrives in Foxboro for eagerly awaited Gillette Stadium concerts
FOXBORO - Taylor Swift and her 52-show Eras Tour has arrived in Foxboro for a weekend at Gillette Stadium.
More than 60,000 Swifties will be at the first show Friday night. It's sold out, just like the concerts on Saturday and Sunday nights. And fans are coming from near and far - WBZ TV spoke to two Swifties who made the trip from North Carolina.
"We were trying to go to Atlanta, we were trying to go to Philadelphia, everything sold out, Nashville. We had to take a three-hour plane ride to Hartford, then we had a two-hour drive here."
If you're thinking about driving anywhere near the stadium, traffic will be agonizing this weekend. So, plan ahead.
"When we mix the event traffic, coupled with commuter and rush hour traffic, it prolongs the experience getting to Gillette," said Jim Nolan of Kraft Sports and Entertainment.
AAA is warning drivers about traffic on Routes 1, 95, and 495. Between the concert and rush hour traffic, Janet Jackson is also playing Friday night in Mansfield.
The afternoon drive from Boston to Gillette Stadium on a Thursday, a day without a concert, averaged about 22 miles an hour and took more than 90 minutes.
Many people arrived right as the parking lot opened at 2:30 p.m., with the lines for merchandise already crowded hours before showtime.
"Honestly, not as bad as we thought it would be," one Swiftie told WBZ TV. "I've been having stress dreams all week about being late, so this was really nice." Another fan reported the drive to Foxboro took about 90 minutes from Braintree.
If you have tickets, here's the schedule to follow:
Parking opens at 2:30 p.m.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
The opening act starts at 6:30 p.m.
Taylor Swift takes the stage around 8 p.m.
If you're driving, experts remind you to keep your eyes on the road.
"One thing that we like to point out is that, especially with teen drivers, distraction is a big problem with additional passengers in the car," AAA's Mark Schieldrop told WBZ-TV.
It's nice to have a friend, but data shows younger drivers are more likely to crash with friends in the car, so they're alerting all carpooling Swifties to play it safe.
"Make sure you let your driver focus on the road," Schieldrop said.
If you don't have a ticket to the concert, you can't come to Gillette, park and tailgate.
And if you think you know ways to skirt the traffic via back roads, think again. Police will be making sure all concert traffic stays on Route 1.
For more information on the concert, click here and click here for the weather forecast.