Indian Swifties host themed parties to celebrate Taylor Swift's album rights
Trading friendship bracelets might not be a new thing, but American singer-songwriter definitely popularised it with one of her song lyrics, 'So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it' from her 10th studio album, Midnights, released in 2022.
Taylor recently announced that she finally owns the master records of her first six albums from Scooter Braun in an emotional, handwritten letter to fans on her website. She now owns the rights to her albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and Reputation, which she had started to re-record as 'Taylor's Version' starting in 2021.
To celebrate this, the Indian fans have started event groups that bring a concert-like experience for others, organising Taylor-themed fan events which see choreographed dancing, singing to her songs. The exchange of friendship bracelets is quite the norm at these events. Even though she never toured here, Indian Swifties are loyal to the core and would never miss a chance to enjoy her music and celebrate her accomplishments.
In Delhi, TaylorVerse, an event group primarily organising Taylor-themed fan events that started this year, has something in store to celebrate this. Kartik Shukla, one of the group's founders, says, 'We have something big coming in either July or August as we plan to celebrate the news. The event will have lots of games, quizzes, karaoke, along the usual jam sessions. To bring out the competitive side of the fans, we will focus more on the first six albums during the game session, as we will ask them questions based on them and all the lore from her early career years."
As someone who is also a Swiftie since 2008, the idea of doing something like this came to him and his co-founder, Shubham, last year, and it was finally materialised this year in February, as they hosted their first event. 'We are fairly new and we have done two mega shows so far, but we are always hosting smaller events with less number of people in a more intimate setting discussing Taylor's lyrics, analysing them and singing together. We usually get around 90-120 people for our mega events and 20-50 people for the smaller, intimate ones," he says, adding, 'We are also keen to celebrate anniversaries of her album releases like we did one recently in April, celebrating one year of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.'
The tickets for the events are priced at around ₹1,000, depending on the venue, where unlimited snacks and mocktails are included in the price. As he likes to put it, TaylorVerse is tailor-made for Swifties.
Another event group in Delhi, AWWCASIONS, run by Manasvi Gulati, is also planning a celebratory session which would be packed with jam sessions along with some pop-up stalls of face tattoos, paintings, unofficial Taylor merch, ramp walks and quizzes. 'We have done around 15-20 shows since we started in March 2024. Primarily based in Delhi, we have also hosted some events in Chandigarh and Mumbai,' says Manasvi.
They usually have around 150 - 200 guests, and the ticket price ranges from ₹500 - 800.
In Mumbai, Red Scarf Experience, an event group by Simran Kukreja, organises several parties across the nation, and now they have announced another party celebrating Taylor getting her albums back. 'We have planned events in cities like Noida, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Udaipur. We will play her OG music tracks instead of Taylor's Version. The old music videos give a nostalgic vibe while celebrating her big achievement and reliving that OG era. Also, we would play other albums as well. The event would have around 45 songs, 11 eras into a 3.5-hour event,' she says.
Initially, they started hosting events in August 2023 and have done 10 mega shows so far in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru, receiving around 70-80 guests. The ticket price range is from ₹350 to 550 per person.
Adding to the fun, they also have face tattoos and glitter on the house, along with a giveaway sometimes.
For Divya Kalra, a Delhi-based Swiftie who was introduced to these events by a friend initially, has now been a regular. She says, 'I have been to more than 10 such shows so far, which is way more than the friend who introduced me to it. These events have become a place where I can connect and relate with fellow Swifties (more of a comfort place). I have found tons of friends there. Usually, after coming back home, sometimes I don't even recall their names, but the memories always stay. Later, I found them on Instagram. The ones I met at different events, I have been friends with them ever since, and now planning to go to more such shows in the future.'
Another Delhi-based Swiftie, Jigyasa Aggarwal, says, 'The initiative was something never heard of in India because of artists overlooking the fanbases they had established. It was definitely a very strong cultural shift and a bridging gap for teenagers and young adults, bonding over mutual interest in art.'
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