‘She means everything to me’: Taylor Swift brings Edinburgh to a standstill as Eras Tour kicks off in the UK

It’s the biggest show on Earth: over a billion dollars in revenue, millions of fans, and even more friendship bracelets. On a sun-dappled Friday evening in Edinburgh, Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour landed in the UK.

All around the city, local businesses got into the spirit of Swiftmania. Hotel lobbies were decorated with balloons, streamers, and cardboard cutouts of the US singer. On every corner, hit singles such as the wistful synth-pop of “All You Had to Do Was Stay” and the defiant bop “Shake It Off” were blasted from pub speakers.

Over a year since the opening concert in Arizona, Swift, 34, finally touched down in the UK, for the first of three nights at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh where hundreds of fans had