After nearly two years of touring across five continents, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to Canada. Thursday is the first of six dates in Toronto, and the tour will wrap up with three dates in Vancouver in December. When the Eras Tour rolls through town, money tends to follow; fans and concert-goers spend on merch, hotels, restaurants… and of course, tickets. Tickets make for attractive auction items, and people fundraising for charitable causes have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

For some people, thousands of Swifties descending upon downtown Toronto can be more like a ‘nightmare dressed like a daydream.’ Public transit systems, like Metrolinx and the TTC, say they’re ‘ready for it,’ but that amount of people will no doubt make getting around the city a challenge. Even couples planning their weddings were warned against booking dates while Swift is in town. 

Josh O’Kane is here to break down how businesses are getting in on the fun, and how to make the most of the Eras Tour weekends, whether or not you’re a Swiftie. 

The Globe has created Taylor Swift playlists for every type of listener: for people who want to rock out to her greatest hits, to the elder millennials who loved her since high school, to the songs to put your kids to sleep, to the ones who are soundtracking their walk to the stadium with swagger, to the sneaky covers to convert the non-Swifties and ending with the classic, lyrical ballads to make you shed a tear. https://open.spotify.com/user/kswfenu8tkbjszl0ebou72cgq/playlists

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com