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The Vienna stop of Taylor Swift’s Time Tour has been canceled after Austrian authorities arrested an Islamic State sympathizer in connection with a plot targeting the concert, prompting organizers to prioritize the safety of the expected 195,000 attendees.
The Vienna stop of US superstar Taylor Swift’s concert tour will be cancelled due to the arrest of an Islamic State sympathiser in Austria in connection with an attack plot, organizers said on Wednesday.
The move comes after authorities arrested a 19-year-old sympathiser of an armed group on suspicion of planning attacks in the Vienna area, warning that the sympathiser was “focusing” on three of Swift’s upcoming shows.
“With government officials confirming a planned terrorist attack at the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel our three scheduled shows to ensure everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music said on Instagram.
Organizers also said all ticket holders would be refunded. Each of the shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday is expected to attract about 65,000 people.
Austria’s top security chief Franz Ruf told a news conference that the man, who pledged allegiance to Islamic State “in recent weeks,” was detained early Wednesday in the state of Lower Austria, about an hour’s drive from the capital.
“We have made the necessary preparations, and the 19-year-old suspect’s target was Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna,” said Roof.
He said police seized chemical substances at the suspect’s home.
Another person believed to have had contact with the suspect was arrested in Vienna.
According to preliminary investigations, both suspects were engaged in extremist activities on the Internet.
Police promised to step up security measures, including deploying special forces to the concert, while minimizing any specific danger.
– ‘Shocked, saddened’ –
In the official “Swifties” fan group on WhatsApp, panic ensued as the cancellation was announced, with administrators inundated with thousands of messages.
Marie Sereinig, 15, who came from south of the Alps with her aunt to see the show, spent months preparing her costumes for the concert.
“I am very shocked and saddened. But I can also understand that Taylor Swift would not dare to perform on stage under these circumstances,” she told AFP.
Other fans were also frustrated.
“I really don’t know what to say,” said student Flora Zoe Koberwein, 20, adding, “I’m so sorry to those who have come from far away.”
Conservative Prime Minister Karl Nehammer said in a post on the X website that the cancellation was “very disappointing” for fans, adding that the “very serious” threat had been dealt with in advance to prevent any tragedy.
The 34-year-old pop star was due to bring her record-breaking “Time” tour, which began its European leg in Paris in May, to Vienna on Thursday.
After France, the tour also visited Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland, having a significant impact on the local economies in each stop.
According to estimates by the Austrian news agency APA, more than 170,000 spectators are expected to attend the show, bringing in around 100 million euros in revenue.
By the end of the year, the Time Tour had become the first concert tour to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales, and is expected to more than double that by the time it wraps up in Vancouver this December.
In November 2020, Austria suffered its first deadly jihadist attack when a convicted Islamic State sympathizer went on a shooting spree in central Vienna, killing four people and injuring 23 before he was shot dead by police.
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