Artem, a 22-year-old IT student in Moscow, has no regrets about shelling out more than $3,000 to see his favourite singer perform.
Around the world, fans of Taylor Swift – “Swifties” – are used to paying eye-popping prices to attend her concerts. But in Russia, there are other challenges in the quest to catch the superstar on tour.
Many Western performers have shunned Russia since 2022, when Russia sent its army into Ukraine, and outward travel to the West is fraught with complications.
But Russian Swifties, undeterred, embarked this summer on daunting odysseys – requiring visa appointments and clever flight combinations – to catch Swift on her sold-out Eras tour.
Elizaveta, a 20-year-old medical student, travelled with Artem to see Swift perform in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in July.
“When you realise your dream has come true, well of course, (you feel) happiness, joy, and great thankfulness that everything worked out,” she said.
