Notice

They designated the route from Nathan Phillips Square to the Rogers Center as Taylor Swift Way. They have the police horses adorned with garlands resembling Swiftie friendship bracelets. They have a Pearson version of an “interactive dance hall” (lol) at the airport.

Well, well. What do we have here? Not Toronto – Toronto! — be afraid of a famous person!

Pop superstar Taylor Swift began her sold-out six-show run of the Eras Tour in The Six this week, and the city is having no chills about it.

My God, how things have changed. I’m sorry, but as a Winnipegger, I’m really dizzy seeing Toronto — so cool Toronto, cosmopolitan Toronto, Toronto center of the universe — behaving like Winnipeg did 10 years ago. However, I can only imagine what Winnipeg would be like if the Eras tour graced us with its glittering presence. We’d probably give Swift a key to the city. Hell, we’d probably give him the Golden Boy.

We know about podunkite. We invented podunkite. And Toronto, you have it bad. Excuse me while I goof off, just a little. Yes, there were media coverage about that, but honestly, Winnipeg was way cooler because Bruce Springsteen came here this week – and he’s never been there before.

The frenzy surrounding Taylor Swift – who has already performed in Toronto, in fact, 10 times before to be exact – is particularly curious for a city that not only hosts an international star-studded film festival every year, but also n has never really been in trouble. when it comes to attracting big name tours.

I remember watching MuchMusic when I was a teenager and always feeling very disappointed when Toronto was the only “Canadian” tour date for an American artist.

All that to say, I expected the Eras Tour to go to Toronto. Of course it would go to Toronto. He should probably go to Toronto.

That Toronto seems surprised that the Eras Tour is happening in Toronto is, frankly, adorable.

It’s also deeply relevant.

I think Winnipeg is always a little surprised when it’s chosen for something — like in 2014, when Beyoncé and Jay-Z made us one of two Canadian stops on their On tour. It always seems somehow legitimate when strangers notice us; last year, the Globe and mail dropped thousands of words about things everyone gets wrong about Winnipeg. For the Winnipeg audience, it doesn’t say anything we haven’t already tried to tell people, but it’s still nice to hear it.

I follow local tourism accounts on Instagram for the same reason; There’s nothing I love more than hearing influencers rave about polar bears at the zoo and I totally mean it.

Even big cities can sometimes seem small because there’s always a slightly bigger city – to borrow from Kid in the Hall’s Bruce McCulloch – that makes it seem that way.

Personally, I love this squeaky trip to Toronto. You don’t get any better than us, with your 24-hour dining options and big arena shows.

Like the stars, you are like us.

[email protected]

Jen Zoratti
Journalist

Jen Zoratti is a columnist and features editor working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of RRC Polytech’s Creative Communications program and was a music editor before joining the Free press in 2013. Learn more about Jen.

Each story Jen produces is reviewed by an editorial team before being posted online or published in print. Free presssince 1872, the tradition of producing independent and reliable journalism. Learn more about Free pressthe history and mandate ofAnd find out how our editorial team works.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to fuel our journalism. If you are not a paying reader, consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its reading audience to fuel our journalism. Thank you for your support.