Swift fans say city’s efforts to impress have succeeded

Visitors in town for this weekend’s Taylor Swift shows say they’ve been astounded by Indianapolis’ effort to roll out the red carpet for The Eras Tour.

IBJ reporters spoke to dozens of people throughout downtown Sunday who expressed gratitude and surprise about the numerous ways local businesses have sought to get in on the Swift-themed fun. Many also said the city’s embrace of the performer and her fans makes them highly likely to return to the city down the road.

Justin Wood, of Raleigh, North Carolina, is attending Sunday night’s show with his daughters Cannady, 10, and Wells, 7.

“I’d like to come back and bring them to a Fever game, or if our [sports] teams are in town, we’ll look for an excuse to come back,” Justin said, noting he was looking for Caitlin Clark gear. “The downtown is great and the local spots are great. I had some good little craft beers. So it’s been a very good, fun experience.”

Cannady said she “loves Indiana,” adding that “if we went to The Eras Tour anywhere else, it wouldn’t be as fun.”

That’s just what Indianapolis tourism officials want to hear. Tourism agency Visit Indy and the Capital Improvement Board decked out downtown pink and purple, Swift-related decor, including a 300-foot-tall graphic of the “Bad Blood” singer applied to the eastern side of the JW Marriott, in anticipation of about 200,000 descending on the city for this weekend’s concerts. Officials said 89% of ticket holders are from outside central Indiana and about 81% are from outside Indiana.

Thirteen downtown locations featured more than 100 pop-up music and spoken-word performances to entertain fans before the shows. The city installed 32 temporary street signs featuring Swift connections—”Cruel Summer Court” and “All Too Well Way,” for example—and the Indianapolis International Airport greeted fans with signage and a photo station.

Chris Gahl, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Indy, said before the event that tourism group, airport and the CIB “invested a healthy six figures as a city for the decor portion of what you see, from the street signs to the banners to the JW Marriott to the Civic Plaza” at the airport.

Lindsey Lip, in town with her daughter and other family from the Detroit area, noticed the effort. They’ve been to Indianapolis previously for competitive gymnastics events, but Lip said the city’s approach to greeting Swifties goes beyond what she anticipated.

“We can’t believe how decked out everything is—this is so cute,” she said. “We went to Detroit [for the] Eras tour last year, and it was nothing like this. Indianapolis did a fabulous job.”

She said she and her friends might come back to celebrate one of their 40th birthdays in the coming months, because of the city’s restaurant and bar scene.

Glea Lahr, of Billings, Montana, said while she and her 12-year-old daughter are spending just 24 hours in Indianapolis, they are trying to spend as much time downtown taking in the city’s history and architecture as possible. She said she would like to return to spend more time in the city.

Lahr said while restaurants have been busy, it hasn’t complicated the trip.

“We were worried coming here that food was going to be hard to get,” she said. “It wasn’t hard, and the service was great, perfect.”

Erika Gandee, who flew in from Charlotte, North Carolina with her sister and two nieces, 10 and 12, told IBJ last week that she was impressed with how the Indianapolis International Airport welcomed passengers.

“It’s so wonderful for them to have this experience, for the kids and the adults coming in,” she said. “The city’s been very kind and just so warming. And when we landed, they started playing Taylor Swift on the airplane. So we just loved it. It has been a great experience for the girls.”