How can tens of thousands of fans express their gratitude to music icon Taylor Swift all at once during the star's Eras Tour show?
For Swifties around the world, the answer is to organize "fan projects," which are unified actions that unfold in the crowd at a designated time during the three-and-a-half-hour concert.
One of the best examples of a fan project happened in May 2023 in Nashville. Dubbed the "Marjorie Project," fans in the stadium waited for Swift to finish singing "Marjorie," the emotional tribute to Swift's late grandmother, opera singer Marjorie Finlay, from the Evermore album. All at once, the crowd raised photos of Marjorie, leaving Swift in awe on stage.
With Swift ending her globe-crossing tour in Vancouver with a trio of shows in December at BC Place, fans have been chatting for months in online groups about what they could do to thank the superstar.
Local Swiftie builds website to share info about Vancouver Eras Tour "fan projects"
Ultimately, each of the three nights has a different "fan project" plan, which have now been unified to get the word out on a single website, built by a local fan.
Vancouverite Joss McMillan tells V.I.A. that she and co-planner Caitlyn Z, initially launched the Vancouver Eras Tour Fan Project site to share info - and a necessary download - for the night two show, on Saturday, Dec. 7.
For that particular show, the stadium has been divided into sections to represent each of Swift's 11 "eras," one for each studio album (see slide 2).
Fans can find their corresponding section and download an image of a colour panel for their phone screens. The moment Swift completes playing "Champagne Problems" on the piano and takes out her earpiece, fans will raise their phones and chant "Thank you" in unison, filling the seats with the colours of the eras.
McMillan explains that the fan projects were decided on within subgroups for each of the three Vancouver Eras Tour concert nights through conversations and polls on "The Eras Tour | Vancouver, BC” Facebook group with its over 20,000 members. The top ideas emerged through votes and the group banded together with another popular Facebook group, the “Vancouver BC/Swifties," to ensure cohesion.
After the site went up for night two, McMillan says the other nights' representatives were hoping they could use the platform for their respective fan projects.
"I quickly redesigned the homepage to have all three nights showcased," she says.
A different fan project planned for each of the three final Eras Tour concerts
McMillan says that one of the fastest agreements was for the closing night, which falls five days before Swift's 35th birthday on Dec. 13. Fans Holly-Lee Elizabeth and Kay-Lynn Arsenault put forth the idea for the fan project to be the stadium singing "Happy Birthday" to Swift.
"Pretty much everyone got on board from the get-go!" shares McMillan.
For night one, the fans have agreed to join forces to "welcome" Swift back to Vancouver with a chant styled after her song "Welcome to New York," (subbing in "B.C." of course). The project is spearheaded by fan Linda Shaw.
All three of the fan projects will take place at the end of the song "Champagne Problems."
The song swiftly became established as a good time to mount "fan projects" because Swift pauses the show to speak to the crowd beforehand, sharing what it means to her to play songs from Evermore and Folklore, her two "pandemic era" albums that were created when there was such uncertainty about the future of live music.
The simplest expression of gratitude has been the ovation Swift receives after the song.
"While on average, this moment lasts from one to four minutes, the longest standing ovation recorded happened in LA on August 8, 2023, at eight minutes long," points out the Vancouver Eras Tour Fan Project.
McMillan will be at the Saturday show, and she says she is "ecstatic to see it all come to life."
"I am looking forward to watching the fan live streams for Nights 1 and 3 and taking part in Night 2's project. It will all be truly memorable!"
Vancouver's Eras Tour "Fan Projects" for each night
Night 1: December 6
This night will mark Taylor Swift’s return to Vancouver since The 1989 World Tour in August 2015. TAYcouver Swifties want to make sure she feels welcomed in our city, and are planning to chant “Welcome to B.C., we’ve been waiting for you” to the tune of “Welcome to New York.”
Night 2: December 7
With the end of the tour being so close, attendees of the second night want to take a moment to thank Taylor Swift and her team for the incredible experience that The Eras Tour has been. Attendees can visit the Fan Project website to see what “era” represented-colour section they are seated in. Then, when the time comes, they will hold up their phones with their designated coloured screens and chant "Thank you!"
Night 3: December 8
The Eras Tour comes to a close just five days shy of Ms. Swift's birthday (on Dec. 13). Swifties will count down to a heartfelt rendition of "Happy Birthday" to round off the three-night concert series in Vancouver.
