The Toronto stop of the Eras Tour is done.
The world has come and gone. The dozens of red trucks that carry Taylor Swift’s mammoth production are leaving. Hotels are emptying and the entertainment district is returning to normal.
Take a deep breath. It’s over.
Toronto is now left with the memories. People flocked from all over the world and every corner of Canada, flooding streets and bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to this city’s economy. The stories that came with them were equally astounding.
As the confetti settles and the sparkles fade, the Star looks back at the people who made this city shimmer.
Bridget, Spock and Lisa Saric
Spock and Lisa travelled from Queensland, Australia, and met their daughter Bridget, 21, who flew in from London, England. Bridget had already seen the Eras Tour 14 times but was determined to see it again.
“I’m insane,” she said. “She spends all her money on Taylor Swift,” Lisa laughed.
Bridget even convinced Spock to wear a bare-bellied Swift cheerleader outfit to the concert.
Marsha Stagg
On the day of Swift’s first concert, Marsha Stagg, bundled in blankets and sitting on a folding beach chair, said she’d been waiting outside the Rogers Centre since 5:30 a.m. She held a sign: “We need tickets.”
Originally from Stephenville, Nfld., she flew in from Halifax and met six of her childhood friends in Toronto for the concert. One of them, Kristen, has stage four breast cancer. The concert was a chance to reconnect and celebrate her, Stagg said.
Stagg hoped the box office would sell off extra tickets. If that didn’t work, she said was willing to pay $750 on the resale market.
And even if the whole plan fell apart, the group still had tickets to Sunday’s Bills-Chiefs game in Buffalo.
Jasmine Salve
Jasmine Salve had worked security at the Eras Tour in Munich, Germany, but didn’t get to fully experience the show because she was on the clock.
So she flew to Toronto in hopes of catching the tour before it ended. Wearing a white sequin dress, Salve paced the sidewalks outside the Rogers Centre for hours holding a simple cardboard sign: “Long story short, searching for one ticket.”
Even without a ticket, the trip wouldn’t have been for nothing. Salve went to Niagara Falls and explored Toronto, she said.
Arthur and Matilda Lulu
When seven-year-old Matilda Lulu’s rare kidney disease returned, dad Arthur decided to do something special for his daughter.
He spent $1,500 (U.S.) on two tickets for the Eras Tour and surprised Matilda with it for her ninth birthday. “Actually?” Matilda says in a video of the moment, an incredulous smile spreading across her face. “You’re the best dad in the world.” She starts to cry.
The Whitby, Ont. father and daughter saw the last Toronto show on Saturday.
Nicolas Bello
Nicolas Bello, a volunteer with the city directing fans where to go, normally works at David Pecaut or Nathan Phillips squares doing the same thing.
On night one of Taylor Swift, he and two others stood near the base of the CN Tower from 4 to 8 p.m.
“My wife’s at the show, so I need something to do tonight,” he said, adding that volunteer spots for tonight and the other show nights filled up pretty quickly.
“It’s fun, he continued. “I’ve never talked to so many people at any of my prior City of Toronto volunteering gigs.”
Greg and Lillian Dinegar
Lillian Dinegar and her dad, Greg, spent the whole car ride from New Jersey to Toronto talking about what songs they were most excited to see. Lillian hoped “Tolerate It” was one of Swift’s surprise songs that night.
Greg was most excited to see “Blank Space.”
“I’m 57 years old, and I tell all my buddies like, ‘Dude, you gotta listen to this girl. She’s unbelievable,’” he said, dressed in a Taylor-themed fit put together by Lillian.
Jo Lalonde
Jo Lalonde was all smiles as her chalk drawing of Taylor Swift took shape under the CN Tower on Nov. 15.
Known on social media as @chalkchick, Lalonde said she’s done chalk art professionally for 18 years or, as she joked, since she stopped eating chalk as a kid.
She also drew a friendship bracelet mural at another spot nearby. She amassed a collection of her own bracelets from the fans passing by.
“I’ve worked events for years,” she said. “Just how enthusiastic and how lovely and sweet and wholesome everyone is, it has just been warming the cockles of my heart.”
With files from Nathan Bawaan.
