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Organizers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna scheduled for this week canceled them Wednesday after authorities in the country said they had made arrests in connection with an apparent plot to carry out an attack during an event in the Vienna metropolitan area, such as the concerts.
Swift was scheduled to perform at the Ernst Happel Stadium in the Austrian capital on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of her The Eras Tour.
The event’s organizer, Barracuda Music, said in a post on its Instagram account on Wednesday night that it “has no choice but to cancel the three scheduled concerts for the safety of everyone.” It cited “confirmation” by officials of a plan to attack the stadium as the reason.
Earlier on Wednesday, authorities said they had arrested two suspected extremists, one of whom appeared to be planning an attack on an event in the Vienna metropolitan area, such as concerts.
The main suspect, aged 19, was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, and the second person in the Austrian capital.
Franz Ruf, the director of public security at the Interior Ministry, said authorities were aware of “preparatory actions” for a possible attack “and also that there was attention from the 19-year-old perpetrator at Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” the Austria Press Agency reported.
Ruf said the young man swore an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The Austrian citizen is believed to have been radicalised online. Ruf said chemicals had been seized and were being tested. He gave no further details.
The cancellation came hours after officials said security measures would be stepped up for Swift’s concerts. Ruf said that, among other things, extra attention would be paid to entry controls and that concert-goers should plan to arrive with extra time.
Vienna Police Chief Gerhard Pürstl said that while any concrete danger had been downplayed, an abstract risk justified increased security.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on social media platform X that “the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s concerts by the organisers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria.”
“The situation surrounding the apparently planned terrorist attack in Vienna was very serious,” he wrote. But he added that thanks to intensive cooperation between the police, Austrian and foreign intelligence, “the threat could be recognised early on, addressed and a tragedy averted.”
Barracuda Music said that “all tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.” The same text was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift’s official website.
Tickets for the concerts planned for Vienna’s stadium were sold out, APA reported, and an estimated 170,000 fans were expected to attend the concerts in Austria.
Swift fans took to social media to express their deep sadness at missing the superstar’s shows. Some of those posting on X lamented months of now-wasted effort making friendship bracelets and picking out trendy outfits for the performance.
Annmarie Timmins, a journalist who traveled from the United States for Thursday’s concert, said she and her husband were waiting for the subway after dinner when they heard the news.
“I can’t even believe it,” she said. “There was a little girl with her mom who looked really sad, even more sad than me. I gave her one of my bracelets. I wanted to hug her.”
In 2017, an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, claimed the lives of 22 people. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi planted a backpack bomb in the Manchester Arena at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving. More than 100 people were injured. Abedi died in the explosion.
An official inquiry last year found that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, failed to act quickly enough on key information and missed a crucial opportunity to prevent the attack, the deadliest extremist attack in Britain in recent years.
