Unticketed Taylor Swift fans are banned from congregating outside Wembley Stadium for the pop singer’s upcoming five-night stint in London.
The venue updated its website to advise fans with this new safety measure after officials in Vienna canceled Swift’s three Vienna concerts a week ago due to to an alleged bomb terrorist threat. Following the cancellation, a spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed there was “nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London,” per a report from USA Today.
Wembley Stadium stated “no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium,” while unticketed fans will be asked to “move on.” Camping also has been prohibited at the stadium.
In addition, ticketed concert-goers will be let into the stadium earlier than usual, according to the venue who outlined a 3:30 local time early entry for all five dates starting Aug. 15. Artists Raye, Paramore, Suki Waterhouse and Raye are also expected to take the stage as show openers.
Swift has yet to address the cancellation of her Vienna shows, or the amped-up security at her London concerts, since the threats became public. Two teenagers were initially arrested — followed a few days later by a third — in an ISIS-connected terrorist plot. According to international reports, the suspects arrested included a 19-year-old who pledged his allegiance to ISIS and was living with his parents in the town of Ternitz, as well as a 17-year-old. Both were arrested after police raided the 19-year-old’s home and found various chemicals and substances, as well as Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the 17-year-old’s home.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence in Vienna, said that the 19-year-old confessed to wanting to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
Swift’s string of shows in London are her first since the cancellation of the Vienna concerts. She is currently on the international leg of her “Eras Tour,” which will circle back to Canada following the London stops.
