After security threats prompted the cancellation of three Taylor Swift concert in Vienna this weekend, several museums in the city are waiving ticket fees as part of tourism initiatives aimed at helping mend the hearts of fans.
“Vienna is doing everything it can to ensure that the thousands of Swifties who have traveled to our city still have an unforgettable weekend. Vienna would like to thank all the fans for their understanding and solidarity, whose reactions show that nothing and nobody can destroy the cohesion in our society,” Vienna Tourist Board CEO Norbert Kettner said in a press statement.
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Ticket holders to the three cancelled Taylor Swift concerts will be granted free entry this weekend to the Mozarthaus Vienna, House of Music, KunstHausWien and the Jewish Museum Vienna; MAK Vienna (Museum of Applied Arts) and MAK Geymüllerschlössel; the modern art museum Mumok, the print specialist museum The Albertina, as well as the museum at the House of Strauss. The Museumquartier is also offering Taylor Swift ticket holders free guided tours in English and German on August 10 and 11.
Brooklyn-based independent film producer and director Waverly Colville told ARTnews she had purchased her concert tickets over a year ago, and found out about the cancellations due to security threats the night before she was scheduled to fly from Stockholm, Sweden. After Colville and her group decided to continue their trip to Vienna, Colville saw posts on social media of other fans gathering to sing songs, as well as the offers from museums and businesses posted on Instagram by the Vienna Tourist Board.
“It felt like everyone was going above and beyond to make sure that all the concertgoers that were there in the city had a good time in Vienna, even though this unfortunate event happened,” she said.
Colville didn’t have set plans in the city aside from attending the concert, and ended up checking out Mozarthaus. “Honestly, if the Mozart museum wasn’t free, and did this big promotion to let the concertgoers come for free, I don’t know if I would have went,” she said, noting she had grown up playing violin. “It was really cool getting to experience something that maybe I normally wouldn’t have done otherwise.”
According to Colville, who used to work at the New Yorker, CNBC and HBO, Mozarthaus was filled with easily identifiable fans of Taylor Swift. “The Mozart Museum was filled with a lot of young women who were her prime demographic, [wearing] friendship bracelets, T-shirts, the whole thing,” she said. “I don’t think that would have been the case had the concert not been canceled and the museum gave us free admission. I did feel like it brought in a lot of people that wouldn’t probably have normally went under normal circumstances.”
“The streets, the museum, every restaurant filled with people with a Taylor Swift t-shirt or friendship bracelets, or accessories, or sparkly outfits that you could see they were planning on wearing to the concert,” Colville said.
In addition to free entry to museums, offers for Taylor Swift fans include complimentary meals at burger restaurants, gifts from the crystal company Swarovski at its retail stores, and free entry to the outdoor pool facility Stadiobad.
Hundreds of fans wearing Taylor Swift merchandise have frequently gathered at Stephansplatz, a public square in the city’s center also near several museums, to sing Taylor Swift songs and exchange friendship bracelets. A couple even proposed there, surrounded by fans.
In addition to seeing Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss at the Belvedere Palace, Colville said there was a strong likelihood she would check out other museums offering free entry in the city before the end of her trip. “It’s like there’s nothing to lose,” she said. “I think it would be a waste not to take advantage of it and see as much as we can.”
