Taylor Swift fans still cannot shake off her Norwich show
A decade on from Taylor Swift taking the stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, fans say her appearance had a lasting impact on their city.About 50,000 people flooded through the gates of Earlham Park in Norwich for the festival across three days in May 2015. With songs including Shake it Off and Love Story, Swift featured on the line-up among stars including Charli xcx, Muse and Snoop Dogg.Culture and leisure development manager at Norwich City Council, Clare Hubery, said: "It really helped to raise the profile of the city for people across the country."
Biffy Clyro, Natasha Bedingfield, Sam Fender, Myles Smith and Mumford and Sons are among headline acts at this year's Big Weekend in Sefton Park, Liverpool.
'Massive operation'
Tickets for the festival 10 years ago sold out within 40 minutes, with 75% of them being awarded to people with a Norfolk postcode. "It was incredible, and it was so enormous," Ms Hubery said.Norwich City Council worked with BBC Radio 1 on the event, which Ms Hubery estimated took a year to plan."For people who turn up on the day, hopefully it's all seamless and you arrive and have a lovely time, but actually it's months and months of planning," she said. "I remember having meetings with train companies to make sure everyone could get home after the event."It was quite a massive operation really."
One of the stand out performers of the weekend was Swift, who took the stage on the last day of the weekend."I was lucky enough to see her again at her Eras Tour and thought, 'wow, she was in Norwich at Earlham Park'." She also noted Snoop Dogg's appearance where he took to the stage in a personalise Norwich City FC shirt, as a particular favourite.
For superfan Ellen Siegert, knowing one of her idol's had performed close to home, was "special".The 20-year-old from Hopton, Norfolk, did not attend the event in Earlham Park, however, she managed to see the global superstar on her Era's Tour last year - a night she described as a "dream come true". She said: "We joke quite a lot that nothing that big ever happens here, so when Taylor came, it was massive, massive news."Among fans, Ms Siegert caused a stir in her Era's Tour outfit made from bed sheets replicating one of Swift's own costumes.
'Getting into the spirit'
Since BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich, Ms Hubery said more concerts have been held in Earlham Park.Craig David is performing there on 29 June."It was the first concert on that scale, and first big music event," she said. "I think Norwich demonstrated that we can do these kinds of things well, and people turn out and get into the spirit of it."In the future, she hopes more artists will be attracted to the city."It would be fantastic to see Taylor or anyone else back in Norwich on that level... It would be great to have a big festival there again."
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