Taylor Swift has canceled her 2020 tour dates — including her Lover Fests — due to the coronavirus pandemic. Her planned U.S. shows will instead take place in 2021.
“I’m so sad I won’t be able to see you guys in concert this year, but I know this is the right decision,” Swift tweeted Friday. “Please, please stay healthy and safe. I’ll see you on stage as soon as I can but right now what’s important is committing to this quarantine, for the sake of all of us.”
“Fighting COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge for our global community and the safety and wellbeing of fans should always be the top priority. Health organizations and governments around the world have strongly discouraged large public gatherings for an undetermined period of time,” Swift’s team said in a statement. “With many events throughout the world already canceled, and upon direction from health officials in an effort to keep fans safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19, sadly the decision has been made to cancel all Taylor Swift live appearances and performances this year.”
Swift only planned a handful of shows in support of her 2019 LP “Lover,” including a free gig prior to the NCAA’s March Madness Final Four that was ultimately canceled when the college basketball tournament itself was canceled at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in America.
Swift’s headlining set at Glastonbury — one of 10 European festival gigs the singer booked for summer 2020 — was similarly called off when that U.K. festival was postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus.
Swift’s Lover Fest West was scheduled to take place July 25 and July 26 at Los Angeles’ new NFL venue SoFi Stadium, while Lover Fest East was set for Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on July 31 and Aug. 1. Both two-day festivals will now take place at to-be-determined dates in 2021.
“Tickets held for each of those shows will transfer to a new show date without action on the part of ticket holders,” Swift’s team added, adding that fans seeking a refund instead should check in with Ticketmaster starting May 1. “Thank you so much for understanding. We look forward to seeing you all, happy and healthy, in the future.”