NEW ORLEANS — Taylor Swift kicks off her 3-show tour stop in New Orleans on Friday. As fans arrived at Armstrong International from around the country the day before, the airport welcomed them with a Swift-themed celebration.
“I found out yesterday at 1 a.m. that we got [the tickets],” said Priya Patel, who arrived Thursday from Canada, “the hotels were booked at 3 a.m. Montreal time this morning.”
Patel is one of 150,000 fans expected to see Swift at the Superdome.
Thursday morning, they arrived at baggage claim to find a Taylor Swift tribute artist leading karaoke, a face glitter station, and friendship bracelets, which fans trade at concerts. They spelled out “fly MSY” in beads.
“I thought that it would be fun for us to participate,” said Erin Burns, MSY’s Director of Communications. She told WWL Louisiana some airlines had added extra flights into and out of the city this weekend after seeing the demand from Swift fans.
The airport is encouraging travelers with flights out of New Orleans on Friday or Sunday to arrive early. “You can expect longer lines,” said Burns.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.