Prince George Taylor Swift fans rent car after flight to Vancouver cancelled

By The Canadian Press on December 7, 2024.

Diehard Taylor Swift fan Carol Hansson poses in front of the "Swiftcouver" sign, as shown in this recent handout image, after making the near 800 kilometre journey from Prince George, B.C., to make the last three shows of the pop star's Eras Tour. Hansson and other fans had their flight cancelled on Dec. 5, forcing them to rearrange travel plans and rent a car in order to make the concerts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

VANCOUVER – A diehard Taylor Swift fan who lives in Prince George, B.C., says a flight cancellation forced her and a group of other Swifties to rent a car and make the near 800-kilometre journey to Vancouver to catch the last dates of the Eras Tour.

Carol Hansson says her flight was originally scheduled for Thursday night, but it kept getting delayed due to apparent safety issues with the aircraft, and alternate flights wouldn’t have got her to Vancouver in time for Friday’s concert.

She says an airport employee told her the cancelled flight’s passengers were “90 per cent Swifties” and other hardcore fans were easy to spot in their merchandise.

Hansson says she got tickets to all three of Swift’s concerts at B.C. Place this weekend, and when the flight was cancelled, she approached other stranded fans and they agreed to rent a car, switching off drivers along the way and listening to Swift the entire time.

She says the road was luckily clear and dry for the trek, and she had to pinch herself at the thought of “breathing the same air” as Swift during Friday’s “amazing” show.

Hansson says she’s never seen Swift live before, but her fandom goes back to the star’s debut and her devotion even compelled her to add Taylor as a second legal middle name in order to incorporate Swift’s fierceness, loyalty and charitableness into her own persona.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2024.