Creative Taylor Swift fans craft ways around bracelet rules for Vancouver shows

Fans display bracelets as they gather outside Toronto's Rogers Centre before going to see Taylor Swift perform in the opening show of the Toronto dates for her Eras Tour, on Thursday Nov. 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

When BC Place stadium announced a ban on loose objects and large bags for Taylor Swift's upcoming shows in Vancouver, it put some Swifties in a bind — what to do with the hundreds of friendship bracelets that are traditionally swapped at the superstar's shows?

That has forced fans, including Christina Bates, from Nashville, Tenn., to get creative.

"I can comfortably fit 40 on each arm," she said. "I have done the test run with it, and we can do 40 without circulatory issues."

She had made more than 200 bracelets for Friday's show.

Swift's blockbuster Era's Tour will end on Sunday after her three-night run in Vancouver.

Security is tight for the shows, with BC Place installing barricades around the stadium and banning the traditional "Taylgate" parties where ticketless fans gather outside arenas to listen for free.

"We’re as excited about exchanging friendship bracelets as you are," BC Place said in an information bulletin posted last week.

"However, all friendship bracelets must be worn into the stadium or carried in a bag which abides by (the) bag policy. Carabiners (metal or plastic) holding bracelets are strictly prohibited."

Fans have been lamenting the regulations online, with one posting to a fan forum that she had "just ordered the cutest heart and star shaped carabiners to sort my bracelets."

Others, like Bates, posed solutions. One fan said she planned to use a "cat collar as a garter" to carry hers into the stadium, while others planned to attach them to their outfits or wear cargo pants.

Some decided on a more obvious option: trade them outside the arena.

Bates said her initial goal was to make 100 bracelets, but over the course of the year since she scored tickets to Friday's show, she more than doubled that count.

"I would be listening to Taylor or watching a livestream and I'd think 'I should have made that lyric' so I just kind of kept making them," she said.

"We are officially closed now because we are out of letters."

BC Place did not immediately respond when asked why it was banning bracelets on carabiners.

The policy restricts attendees to a small purse or a clear bag no bigger than 12 inches square.

The fan-led practice of trading bracelets is a response to a lyric in Swift's song "You're On Your Own, Kid": "So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it."

Swifties ran with the idea.

Edmonton resident Mikayla Crook has been to four previous Taylor Swift tours.

"Within the course of the year, I've made probably close to 800 bracelets," she said.

She said she probably spent up to $300 on supplies and has held bracelet-making parties for the friends who will attend Friday's concert with her. She hopes to trade 300 of them at the show.

"I've learned that they can be attached to your body, so I bought safety pins," she said. "I'll attach it to my bodysuit, because then that way it's part of my outfit."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.