Close X
Friday, January 10, 2025
ADVT 
National

Creative Taylor Swift fans craft ways around bracelet rules for Vancouver shows

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Dec, 2024 11:16 AM
  • Creative Taylor Swift fans craft ways around bracelet rules for Vancouver shows

When BC Place stadium announced a ban on loose objects and large bags for Taylor Swift's upcoming shows in Vancouver, it put some Swifties in a bind — what to do with the hundreds of friendship bracelets that are traditionally swapped at the superstar's shows?

That has forced fans, including Christina Bates, from Nashville, Tenn., to get creative. 

"I can comfortably fit 40 on each arm," she said. "I have done the test run with it, and we can do 40 without circulatory issues."

She had made more than 200 bracelets for Friday's show. 

Swift's blockbuster Era's Tour will end on Sunday after her three-night run in Vancouver. 

Security is tight for the shows, with BC Place installing barricades around the stadium and banning the traditional "Taylgate" parties where ticketless fans gather outside arenas to listen for free.

"We’re as excited about exchanging friendship bracelets as you are," BC Place said in an information bulletin posted last week. 

"However, all friendship bracelets must be worn into the stadium or carried in a bag which abides by (the) bag policy. Carabiners (metal or plastic) holding bracelets are strictly prohibited."

Fans have been lamenting the regulations online, with one posting to a fan forum that she had "just ordered the cutest heart and star shaped carabiners to sort my bracelets." 

Others, like Bates, posed solutions. One fan said she planned to use a "cat collar as a garter" to carry hers into the stadium, while others planned to attach them to their outfits or wear cargo pants. 

Some decided on a more obvious option: trade them outside the arena.

Bates said her initial goal was to make 100 bracelets, but over the course of the year since she scored tickets to Friday's show, she more than doubled that count. 

"I would be listening to Taylor or watching a livestream and I'd think 'I should have made that lyric' so I just kind of kept making them," she said. 

"We are officially closed now because we are out of letters."

BC Place did not immediately respond when asked why it was banning bracelets on carabiners. 

The policy restricts attendees to a small purse or a clear bag no bigger than 12 inches square.

The fan-led practice of trading bracelets is a response to a lyric in Swift's song "You're On Your Own, Kid": "So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it."

Swifties ran with the idea. 

Edmonton resident Mikayla Crook has been to four previous Taylor Swift tours. 

"Within the course of the year, I've made probably close to 800 bracelets," she said.

She said she probably spent up to $300 on supplies and has held bracelet-making parties for the friends who will attend Friday's concert with her. She hopes to trade 300 of them at the show.

"I've learned that they can be attached to your body, so I bought safety pins," she said. "I'll attach it to my bodysuit, because then that way it's part of my outfit."

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Trump's 25% per cent tariff would lead to pain on both sides of border, leaders say

Trump's 25% per cent tariff would lead to pain on both sides of border, leaders say
The president-elect posted to Truth Social on Monday that he would sign an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Canada and Mexico.

Trump's 25% per cent tariff would lead to pain on both sides of border, leaders say

350K for Vancouver music fund

350K for Vancouver music fund
Vancouver is committing 350-thousand-dollars to the city's Music Fund. It says the funding will support Indigenous and underrepresented groups working in the music and sound recording industry.

350K for Vancouver music fund

Montreal mayor, police chief say masks will delay arrests after violent protest

Montreal mayor, police chief say masks will delay arrests after violent protest
Montreal’s mayor and police chief both say it will take time to arrest everyone who smashed windows and burned cars during a demonstration outside a NATO conference on Friday evening, since most of them had their faces covered. Police have so far arrested three people in connection with Friday’s protest, and police Chief Fady Dagher says there will be more arrests. 

Montreal mayor, police chief say masks will delay arrests after violent protest

Mother orca and her children make 'grocery shopping' trip near downtown Vancouver

Mother orca and her children make 'grocery shopping' trip near downtown Vancouver
A family of killer whales has made a rare trip into waters off downtown Vancouver for what an expert says was likely a "grocery shopping" hunt for harbour seals. Video shared on social media by False Creek Ferries shows the whales cruising past highrise towers at the entrance to False Creek on Sunday.

Mother orca and her children make 'grocery shopping' trip near downtown Vancouver

B.C. opens disaster aid to atmospheric river flood victims

B.C. opens disaster aid to atmospheric river flood victims
British Columbia is making disaster financial assistance available to victims of floodwaters that gushed through several communities when an atmospheric river dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain on parts of the province last month. The province says flood-affected residents of Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, the Squamish First Nation and North and West Vancouver are eligible.

B.C. opens disaster aid to atmospheric river flood victims

Defence Minister Bill Blair "ready to go faster" on spending timeline

Defence Minister Bill Blair
Defence Minister Bill Blair said Monday that he's ready to work with the incoming Donald Trump administration to speed up Canada's timeline to meet its NATO alliance spending targets. Canada committed last year to meet the NATO members' pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on national defence and in July Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to hitting that target by 2032.

Defence Minister Bill Blair "ready to go faster" on spending timeline