Taylor Swift rallies fans for concert gear at dawn in Vancouver

Taylor Swift fans were out before sunrise in Vancouver on Wednesday, trying to snag some coveted T-shirts, bags and sweaters to celebrate her record-breaking Eras Tour.

A line of hundreds of fans snaked around Vancouver’s Canada Place downtown for the first major in-person sale of official Swift merchandise ahead of three concerts in the city this week.

Armed with camp chairs, tuques and coffee, as well as exchanging friendship bracelets that have become synonymous with Swift’s tour, fans spent hours in the foggy morning chatting and waiting for sales to begin at 10 a.m. PT.

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Taylor Swift fans wait for hours to buy merchandise in Vancouver

Hundreds of people waited in long lines in downtown Vancouver for the first major sale of official Taylor Swift merchandise ahead of their three concerts in the city.

Sadie Hotte and her mother Laura were the first to arrive at 4 a.m. Since there was no one else there, they initially thought they were in the wrong place, but soon other early risers showed up and they settled in waiting.

Hotte said they had tickets to Swift’s Saturday show but wanted to get merchandise early so they wouldn’t have to worry about it on concert night.

She is among those hoping to buy the coveted blue crew-neck sweater, which is only available at Swift’s tour stops, and felt that arriving early was her best chance of beating out resellers who are buying as much as possible to then sell the items online at excessive costs.

“It’s just people coming and buying the (entire) box and selling them for a lot more than they cost here,” she said.

“So it’s going to be hard to get those more popular items if you’re not in the first 50 people.”

The Eras Tour crewnecks are advertised as priced at $95. A search on online marketplace eBay shows the oversized blue sweater on sale for nearly $400.

Starting at 8 a.m., those in line were allowed to wait in the cruise terminal, where it was warmer.

Fans Alexandra Boucher-Carter and Nicole Shisko, who have tickets to Friday’s show, arrived shortly before the parade.

Both said they were willing to wait in the cold but were grateful for the interior space.

They acknowledged they probably weren’t early enough to get some of the more popular items, but had contingency plans and hoped there would be a limit on how much each person in line could buy.

“We also get things for other people. So we had in mind that we might not be able to buy too many things,” Boucher-Carter said.

“But I don’t know, I’m not too worried about the resellers. If they all buy blue crewneck sweaters, you know they’re idiots.”

Even before she had the chance to shop, Hotte said her early hours in line were worth it.

“Talking to people with similar interests, just walking around and exchanging bracelets and stuff. It was really fun,” she said.

The sale organizers say products will be restocked daily and the sale will be open daily through Sunday.

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Swift is playing concerts in Vancouver on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the final shows of her Eras Tour.

Tourism organization Destination Vancouver said Swift is estimated to bring $157 million to the city over the weekend, including $97 million in direct spending on things like lodging, food and transportation.

According to music trade publication Pollstar, an estimated 160,000 ticket holders will attend the sold-out shows in Vancouver, capping a tour that was the first tour to gross more than $1 billion.