Ticketless Taylor Swift fans listen to show outside Acrisure Stadium
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh is "Swiftsburgh" this weekend after Mayor Ed Gainey renamed the city in honor of Taylor Swift, who is performing two sold-out concerts at Acrisure Stadium.
Outside the arena and across the Allegheny River at Point State Park, Swift's fans took in the Eras Tour any way they could Friday night. Some even did so on the water on a boat.
While the city discouraged Swifties from "Taylor-gating" outside the concert, fans couldn't stay away. Swifties who may not have made it through the Ticketmaster debacle still enjoyed their favorite artists on her stop in Pittsburgh on Friday.
However, those who did have tickets felt lucky. Ella Coy of Pittsburgh, Madelyn Blandford of Cranberry and their moms snatched up tickets last week during a special sale.
"We survived the great war, but it was a war," Coy said.
This marks their fifth Swift concert together. Madelyn's mom, Melissa of South Carolina, said it's become a tradition.
"We were going to 'Taylor-gate' originally, and then she texted me and I was in South Carolina and she's like, 'Can you get a flight and come up?' and I was like, 'Yes, just buy the tickets, I'll book the ticket,'" Melissa said.
The event drew mothers and daughters from across the country. Kaitlyn Blake and 6-year-old Leighton spent 12 hours traveling from North Carolina to Pittsburgh, with a stop in New York along the way.
"(Swift's) grown up with me throughout my life and just the songs resonate with me, and it's just something that it's so great to be able to share with my daughter," Kaitlyn said.
Everyone dressed for the occasion.
"The whole city is Taylor Swift," Meghan Butte of Cleveland said.
"We went back and forth on like 20 different outfit ideas," Erika Miller of Lock Haven said.
"I told my mom like I want to get this costume, it's really cute, so please get it for me," Elena McGhee of West Virginia said.
Together, Swifties filled the city with color for a night they won't forget.
KDKA-TV reached out to Pittsburgh Public Safety for an estimate on the crowd size outside of the stadium Friday night but hasn't heard back at this time. Officials said about 1,000 people gathered at Point State Park to watch and listen to Swift.
Swift is back at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday.