Taylor Swift fans gather in the streets of Vienna to sing her songs after Eras concerts are canceled

Taylor Swift fans are battling fear over joy after the pop star’s Eras Tour shows were canceled in Vienna, which was the target of a last-minute terrorist attack discovered by authorities earlier this week.

The first of Swift’s three previously scheduled concerts at Ernst Happel Stadium was scheduled for Thursday (August 8), which hundreds of Swifties instead spent together on the streets of the Austrian capital to sing along to the 14-time Grammy winner’s songs. Videos posted to X show the group belting out “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” “All Too Well,” and “Cruel Summer,” each of which is on the three-plus-hour set list they were hoping to see live after more than a year of waiting for the Eras tour in Vienna.

In another video, the crowd sings “Long Live.” Many of the clips are tagged “#WeLoveYouTaylor.”

The bittersweet sing-along came just a day after Barracuda Music — the live concert promoter that oversaw Swift’s stops in Vienna — announced that the shows had been canceled as a safety precaution for the more than 65,000 fans who were expected to show up each night. Two suspects — Austrian citizens aged 19 and 17 — were detained on Wednesday (August 7).

The next day, authorities revealed that one suspect admitted that the plan was to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.” The person identified as the main conspirator allegedly quit his regular job and “apparently changed his appearance and conformed to IS[Islamic State]propaganda.”

The head of Austria’s Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, also said the main suspect wanted to use knives or homemade explosives to attack Swift fans outside the stadium in an attempt to cause mass casualties. Authorities added that IS and al-Qaeda materials were found in the home of the 17-year-old suspect, who was reportedly hired earlier this week by a company providing services at the Ernst Happel Stadium. The suspect was arrested by police special forces near the stadium.

With concerts canceled, Swifties who were in Vienna for the occasion are finding other ways to pass the time with the help of some local venues. Le Burger is offering free burgers to fans with tickets to the canceled shows, while some fans reported that Swarovski Kristallwelten Store Wien is giving away free necklaces to those affected.

Watch the Swifties sing on the streets of Vienna below.