Organizers have cancelled three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria after police foiled an ISIS terror attack planned for the Vienna leg of her Eras tour.
The decision would affect Vienna’s businesses as Taylor Swift shows always bring in substantial revenues for host countries.
Swift was scheduled to play three shows in Vienna from Thursday to Saturday which have all been cancelled, according to Barracuda Music, the promoter for her concerts in Austria.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music said Wednesday in a post online.
Swift’s official website also listed the concerts as cancelled.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, police said a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, who they identified as a sympathizer of ISIS, was arrested Wednesday morning in Ternitz, Austria, while another arrest was made later in Vienna.
The suspects had become “radicalized by the internet,” with the 19-year-old pledging his allegiance to ISIS’ leader in July, police said.
Late Wednesday, police said they had made “further detentions” but did not give a number or any other details.
The suspects had undertaken “concrete preparatory measures” for a terrorist attack after police suspected explosives were stored at the home of the suspect in Ternitz, authorities said.
Police also said chemical substances were secured at the home of the 19-year-old and were being evaluated.
“From the current standpoint of the investigation we assume that the target of the attack were events in the Vienna region,” Police said.
In a post on X, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called the cancellation a “bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria” but said a tragedy had been prevented.
“We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our Western way of life,” he said. “Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many Western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently.”
Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour began in Glendale, Arizona on March 18, 2023, and has taken place in South America, Asia and Australia, and is currently on its European leg before it makes a return to North America.
Her tour has made headlines for boosting the economies of the places that she visits including generating an estimated $380 million in London, the city’s mayor said in June.
