The Taylor Swift countdown is on: Here’s everything you need to know about her Toronto stop

… Ready for it, Toronto?
In just a month, swarms of Swifties will descend upon the downtown core for the international pop-star’s long-anticipated Canadian arrival.
It’s been a long time coming. The four-time album-of-the-year Grammy winner’s expected presence in Toronto had the Rogers Centre implementing renovations with Swifties in mind and city officials planning away in preparation. The city will be welcoming her by designating the path between Nathan Phillips Square and the arena “Taylor Swift Way” for the month of November, continuing the trend of cities around the world honouring a visit from the pop star.
Whether you’re one of the lucky thousands who scored tickets, or are planning to leave the city to avoid the inevitable chaos — here is everything you need to know.
The Eras Tour is coming to Toronto for two weekends, with three nights each Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Swift will be playing Rogers Centre with opener Gracie Abrams from Nov. 14 to 16 and Nov. 21 to 23 — becoming the first artist to perform six shows at Rogers Centre.
The Toronto shows will be part of Swift’s return to the Eras Tour after her London shows in August marked the end of the European leg. She’ll have a weekend break from her last performance in Indianapolis on Nov. 3 before heading up north to Toronto.
After her six shows in Toronto, Swift will head to Vancouver for three shows at BC Place.
All six Eras Tour nights in Toronto are sold-out with fans travelling far and wide to catch the world’s biggest superstar on stage. Some resale tickets are going for as high as $121,000 on the resale market.
If you were wait-listed by Ticketmaster, then you may still have a shot at being “The Lucky One.” For some of the previous shows, fans were taken off the wait-list for additional tickets as late as the weekend before the concert.
However, some fans have been using social media to buy and sell tickets at face-value, but that comes with its own risk of possible scammers.
In many cities with open stadiums, fans without tickets got together outside the stadium to enjoy the show. In Munich, over 20,000 fans assembled at a hill just outside the stadium to experience the Eras Tour. 
On all six concert dates, “Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ‘24” will be running from 1 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre and will include a live DJ mixing Swift’s hits, singalong spaces for the vocally brave and a massive space to create friendship bracelets.
Organizers of Taylor Swift Dance Party Canada have also planned after-parties for all six nights at the Antler Room at The Loose Moose on Front Street at 11 p.m.
Bags are “strongly discouraged,” according to the Rogers Centre website, and only bags smaller than 7“ x 4“ x 2” are allowed. All bags are subject to a security search, the Rogers Centre added.
Camera equipment as well as video and audio devices including iPads, tablets and GoPros, are on the Rogers Centre’s long list of prohibited items, which also includes: selfie sticks, weapons, fireworks, air horns, glass bottles/containers, cans, hard plastic containers or other potential projectiles, balloons, beach balls, Frisbees, laser pens/pointers, large umbrellas, musical instruments, pets, bulk foods, flashlights, battery packs, lights, drones, outside food/beverage, outside alcohol, signs and anything deemed inadmissible by security. Upon entry into the venue, you will be subject to a search.
The venue also has strict rules around costuming and clothing — hard plastics, metal spikes and chains aren’t allowed on clothing, and fan signs are not permitted.
It’s likely that Rogers Centre, as well as law enforcement, will be ramping up security measures ahead of the concert dates after Swift’s Vienna dates were cancelled after being the target of an alleged terror attack.
All Taylor Swift shows have a start time of 7 p.m., but concert gate opening times may vary, the Rogers Centre noted online. Fans are encouraged to arrive early but will not be permitted to queue earlier than noon on the day of the concert.
The Rogers Centre only accepts digital tickets scanned through the Ticketmaster app on a mobile device — screenshots of barcodes, paper or PDF tickets aren’t accepted. According to the Rogers Centre website, each attendee needs to have their own personal ticket. Tickets can be transferred via the Ticketmaster app, though after some high-profile account hackings, ticket transfer will only be open three days before each event.
Gates are assigned on mobile tickets, with Gate 7 — on the south side of the Rogers Centre along Bremner Boulevard — the designated accessible entrance.
Confused about where to go or where you’re sitting? Here’s a seat map of the Rogers Centre for Taylor Swift’s shows:
Want some Eras Tour merch? You can cop some throughout the Rogers Centre concourse. A pre-show merch store may be open ahead of the show, and a notification will be sent out to ticket holders ahead of the concert.
Rogers Centre is encouraging public transit use thanks to reduced traffic along Bremner Boulevard. The venue is a 13-minute walk (according to Google Maps) from Union Station — for concertgoers arriving via GO train or Via Rail, and St. Andrew Station is the same distance for TTC commuters. 
Parking spots are available around the Rogers Centre but only through independently operated spaces, so expect some hefty parking fees. Rogers recommends Spothero.com — which allows booking parking spots in advance. Nearby parking ranges from $10 to $50 for a spot from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (two hours ahead of the concert and one hour after) on the first day of Swift’s stay in Toronto.
The Rogers Centre does have a limited number of parking spaces available at its underground lot for concertgoers with accessibility needs, along the southern stretch of Bremner Boulevard. Reservations are required on event days and can be made by calling (416) 341-1234 and payments must be cashless.
The Rogers Centre also runs a Fan Assist Program, where you can text (647) 559-0060 with your row and seat number for any questions around seating sections and questions related to your concert experience. Fans can also “report issues in a discreet and convenient manner” through the text line, the Rogers website said, though standard carrier text messages and data charges will apply. 
There’s an endless list of big names that have shown up to previous Eras Tour shows and Taylor’s Toronto stops are bound to do the same. 
Though several celebrities — like Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Morgan Rielly and Tessa Virtue — have already attended previous Eras Tour shows, there’s a distinct chance they could opt for another round of Taylor Swift.
And there’s no shortage of musically inclined celebrities who could show up as guests onstage: Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Shawn Mendes and Bryan Adams have all performed with Swift before. 
It’s hard to predict the weather more than a month out from the concerts, but AccuWeather’s November forecast has temperatures ranging from 9 C to 3 C from Nov. 14 to 16 and -2 C to 5 C. According to the Weather Network, historically, November in Toronto has a bit of a bite, with highs of 8 C and lows of 2 C.
After having Paramore as the opener on the London leg of her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift is tagging in indie-pop artist Gracie Abrams.
Abrams, in an interview with the Star, is a Swiftie herself. When she found out she would be opening for Swift, Abrams said, “I don’t even remember. I just blacked out. I wouldn’t believe it at all. This couldn’t be real life.”
She was last in Toronto in March 2023, on her sold-out tour at History for her debut album “Good Riddance.”
Swift is expected to give a breathtaking 10-act performance over three hours, which will include songs from almost all of her studio albums or “eras.” Her debut album, “Taylor Swift” has remained conspicuously absent from the permanent set list.
Since the tour started in March 2023, the set list has gone through several changes, most notably after Swift released her 11th studio album “The Tortured Poets Department” in April. Other times the set list has changed has been during the shows where the opener is someone she has collaborated with such as Phoebe Bridgers (“Nothing New”), Haim (“no body, no crime”) and at some of the shows opened by Paramore (“Castles Crumbling”).
As Swift recently collaborated with Abrams for her new song — “us” — it is possible that Swift replaces a song on the set list with the new tune. 
Every night Swift plays two songs which are not on the set list — one on acoustic guitar and the other on piano.
With files from Abhiraj Lamba.