Taylor Swift Way has officially been unveiled ahead of the pop star’s six-show run starting next week.
On Monday morning, Mayor Olivia Chow, Deputy Mayors Jennifer McKelvie and Ausma Malik, among other officials, introduced the new signage for “1 Taylor Swift Way” outside the Rogers Centre. The honorary route is temporarily replacing Blue Jays Way and connects Nathan Phillips Square to Rogers Centre for the entire month to celebrate the stars’ “ Eras Tour.”
“It’s our honour to welcome Taylor Swift to Toronto for nearly a Fortnight of music and magic. We hope fans are Enchanted by their walk down ‘Taylor Swift Way’ and will generously support the auction of these signs – each a keepsake for Evermore that will help a great cause,”Chow said in a statement.
Throughout November, 22 Taylor Swift Way signs will be installed along Queen Street West, John Street, Front Street and Blue Jays Way. This comes after Toronto’s city council approved renaming the route following a motion brought forward by Deputy Mayor McKelvie earlier in July.
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Today, an online auction for the “1 Taylor Swift Way” street sign and six other signs opens to the public and is set to run until Nov. 10. Afterwards, five additional signs will be released for auction every Monday until the end of the month, where the signage will be donated to Daily Bread Food Bank for auction.
Rogers says it will match funds raised up to $113,000, a nod to Swift’s lucky number, 13.
The new sign reveal has sparked mixed reactions from users online.
“She’s not even Canadian, much less from Toronto…” one X user said.
“What a waste of money, time and resources. She’ll never even know or care this was done,” another user said.
Meanwhile, others believe it’s a beneficial move from the city.
“I think it’s so cool, it’s bringing all the Swifties together. I know there’s a lot of us out there,” Samantha Caleon said in an interview with Now Toronto on Monday.
“It’s crazy how one artist can bring so many people together, especially in Toronto, it’s all I’ve been seeing on my For You page on TikTok. Everyone is talking about Taylor coming to Toronto, whether they’re going to her concert or not. We’ll probably get a picture under the sign too,” Madeleine Caleon said in an interview with Now on Monday.
The mega-pop star will be performing at Rogers Centre from Nov. 14-16 and Nov. 21-23. It will be her first Canadian tour since 2018.
