Taylor Swift | Photo credit: AFP
Organisers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week cancelled their events on Wednesday after authorities announced arrests in connection with an apparent plot to attack a concert-like event in the Vienna area.
Swift was scheduled to perform at the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of her Eras Tour.
Event organiser Barracuda Music said in a post on its Instagram channel late Wednesday that “we have no choice but to cancel three scheduled shows for the safety of everyone.” It cited “confirmation” from government officials of a planned attack at the stadium.
Earlier on Wednesday, authorities said they had arrested two suspected extremists, one of whom was planning to attack an event such as an upcoming music festival in the Vienna area.
The 19-year-old main suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, and a second man was arrested in the Austrian capital.
Franz Ruf, director of public security at Austria’s Interior Ministry, said authorities were aware of “preparatory actions” for a potential attack and “that the 19-year-old perpetrator’s attention was focused on Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna,” the Austria Press Agency reported.
Mr. Ruf said the 19-year-old had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
General view outside the Happel Stadium after Taylor Swift cancelled three of her concerts this week after the government confirmed a planned attack on the stadium in Vienna, Austria, on August 8, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
The Austrian citizen is believed to have been radicalised on the internet. Mr Ruf said the chemicals had been secured and were being evaluated. He did not provide further details.
The event was canceled just hours after officials said they would be taking enhanced security measures for the Swift concert. Ruf said there would be more heightened security checks than just the entrance screenings, and that concertgoers should expect to arrive with extra time.
Vienna police chief Gerhard Pürstl said at the same time that, although any concrete threat had been mitigated, an intangible risk justified increased security.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on the social network X that “the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s concert by the organisers is a bitter disappointment for all her fans in Austria.”
Barracuda Music said that “all tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.” The same words were posted on Swift’s official website under the Vienna dates.
According to APA reports, all seats at the Vienna Stadium were sold out for the planned concerts, and an estimated 170,000 fans were expected for the concerts in Austria.
Swift fans took to social media to express their disappointment at the superstar’s inability to attend the show. Some posting on X lamented the months of hard work she put into making friendship bracelets and choosing fashionable outfits for the performance.
Journalist Annemarie Timmins, who flew in from the United States for Thursday’s show, said she and her husband were waiting for the metro after dinner when they heard the news.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “There was a girl there with her mother who looked very sad — more so than me. I gave her one of my bracelets. I wanted to hug her.”
In 2017, 22 people were killed in an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi planted a bomb at 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 blast.
An official inquiry last year said Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 did not act quickly enough on crucial information and missed a crucial opportunity to prevent the bombing, the deadliest extremist attack in Britain in recent years.
