Quebec Swifties get ready to hit the Eras Tour in Toronto

Quebec Swifties get ready to hit Toronto Quebec Taylor Swift fans will be flocking to Toronto for the six Eras Tour dates, starting on Nov. 14, 2024.

Taylor Swift is set to perform the first of six sold-out Eras Tour Toronto shows on Thursday, and Swifties from Quebec are hitting the road ready to spend whatever it takes to see the global superstar.

Alison Henstridge gave her eight-year-old daughter Adelaide a ticket as a surprise birthday present.

"Keeping a secret for nine months is incredibly difficult with an eight-year-old," she said. "When you're excited to share something so big."

Henstridge struck out trying to get tickets to Swift's concert, but she eventually scored tickets through a friend for $600 apiece.

"Compared to what StubHub is selling my section for on the night that I'm going, they're going for $5,000 a ticket right now," she said.

The lowest price on StubHub for single tickets is over $2,300 as of Wednesday evening.

Henstridge, Adelaide and her grandma will leave with handmade costumes and cut costs by staying with family in Toronto's suburbs.

"I really hope she gets to experience girlhood," said Henstridge. "Like the trading of the friendship bracelets just to really see that the world is a great place."

Toronto is expecting around 240,000 concertgoers, but the estimated number of tourists the city expects could be as high as half a million.

There are huge lines at the Rogers Centre as of Wednesday for Swift merch, and Destination Toronto says the economic impact for the city is expected to be around $300 million.

"When visitors come into the city for an event like Taylor Swift's Eras tour, they typically, are going to go to the concert, which is very exciting, but they typically will participate in other activities as well," said Destination Toronto senior manager of corporate communications Kathy Motton.

"So they're going to eat at all the various diverse restaurants that the city has. They're hopefully going to go into all of our neighborhoods."

The economic benefits are ones that Montreal will miss out on because of the city's lack of a decent stadium.

The Olympic Stadium (the Big O) is being repaired and likely wouldn't have met the needs of Swift's tour.

Henstridge is not letting the six-hour drive down Highway 401 get her down.

"On the bright side, I get to have a road trip with my daughter, and I get to have a, like, a mommy-daughter weekend with grandma, which is going to be pretty cool, too," she said.