The Eras Tour arrives in Dublin for a three-night run

Taylor Swift fans will get to experience the sold-out Eras tour in Dublin this weekend.

The singer brought her record-breaking tour to the Aviva Stadium in the Irish capital for three nights, starting on Friday, with more than 150,000 Swifties in attendance.

Before Friday, it had been six years since Swift’s last performance in Dublin.

The 152-date Eras tour became the most lucrative concert series in history.

And its arrival in Dublin isn’t the only big event in the Irish capital over the weekend – Pride, Latitude Festival, the All-Ireland GAA football quarter-finals and Shania Twain are all bringing their crowds to the city.

Around 50,000 fans packed the Aviva Stadium to see the American musician on Friday night.

Swift began her time in the Emerald Isle with praise for Ireland and its culture.

“Dublin, we’ve arrived!” she speaks. “You guys make me feel so good, it goes straight to my head. I feel very, very strong.”

The elaborately choreographed concert featured multiple costume changes and a set list that lasted more than three hours, including dozens of songs, taking fans on a chronological journey through her albums.

“There’s no one like you. You know that, right?” she said, going on to call the Irish “peerless storytellers”, with “the most beautiful accents”.

In one segment that went viral, Swift’s dancer used Irish and shouted “póg mo tuyn” (which means kiss my ass) during a performance of We Are Never Getting Back Together.

Before the show, Swift received a bouquet of flowers from Irish rock band U2, along with a welcome note.

It reads: “Dear Taylor, Welcome back to our homeland… let’s leave some things alone?!!!!”

Taylor Swift’s concert was so big that garda (Irish police) management declared the three days of the event an “extraordinary event”.

Special measures are being taken to ensure there are enough gardaí (officers) to police the city.

The cost of hosting five Garth Brooks concerts at Croke Park in 2022 is €380,000 (£320,000) and it is expected that Taylor Swift’s three-night show will cost around the same.

In Belfast, around 300 fans were preparing to board buses to Dublin on Friday morning.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Lucy Glover, 18, said she had been looking forward to the show “for a long time”.

“It was a landmark and now it’s here,” said Ms. Glover.

Lauren Shannon said “it’s like Christmas”.

“I had to plan the outfit, it was Taylor Swift,” said Monique Uprichard, 23, who wore a dress inspired by the album Lover.

The economic impact of this global superstar is now known as Swiftonomics.

Eras’s US tour last year was the first in history to gross more than $1bn (£792m). Now it is estimated that the international tour will take that figure to $4bn.

The highly anticipated UK leg could generate a boost of almost £1bn for the economy and the only Irish city on the trip is expected to benefit from the boost too.

The only global star to have a similar run in Dublin is Garth Brooks.

An estimated 400,000 fans attended his five shows in Croke Park.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce estimates that tourists to those concerts brought 35 million euros into the economy. Can Swift do the same?

The Dublin Chamber said the real benefit came from people traveling abroad.

Tourism will be the biggest beneficiary of the Eras tour, said Aebhric McGibney, director of public and international affairs.

“You get to see people from all over the country coming to visit Dublin and spend some time here, which is fantastic.

“But the real economic impact comes from people traveling abroad and coming from the UK and Northern Ireland as far away as the US. And in general, the longer the travel time, the longer they stay here .”

Mr. McGibney added that the 2,000 to 3,000 people from the US “could easily spend several thousand” euros each during their visit.

There are still hotel rooms available, some costing more than 500 euros (£420) a night, but there are plenty more budget-friendly.

Businesses around Aviva and Dublin are planning a bumper weekend of unlimited lunches, Taylor quizzes and cup making activities among other quirky activities.

The Bridge, a popular bar near the Aviva Stadium, has developed a Taylor Swift-themed menu. Manager Colm Ryan said they are used to big events but nothing as big as Taylor.

“We always have rugby matches, Six Nations, things like that,” he said.

“And obviously there are a lot of concerts. We had Pink and Rammstein last weekend. But Taylor, she’s on another level, the number of people who come out to support her is huge.

“She is probably one of the most famous artists in the world today.

“We designed special cocktails this weekend named after some of her songs. So we have a Lavender Haze cocktail, and an Enchanted cocktail, along with slushy, you know, frozen daiquiris, I thought it would be nice to pick those that hopefully the weather permits will fly out.”

Dublin Pottery Studio is running Taylor-themed mug-making classes on two nights, both of which sold out within the hour.

Manager Ciara Fullam said the idea came about when most of their customers would paint Taylor Swift ceramics themselves regardless of the concert.

“We noticed that every weekend, people were drawing Taylor Swift-themed art,” she said.

If you’re lucky enough to get tickets, there will be some additional public transport services for the Taylor Swift concert.

Additional Dart train services, operating around the Dublin city area, are available on all three nights.

There are also 60 different bus routes from across the country that have been approved by the National Transport Authority to provide dedicated services to Aviva.

Forward links also runs a special round-trip train service from Northern Ireland.

The concerts coincide with a number of other events in the Dublin area such as Pride and Longitude so public transport will be busy.

The Aviva Stadium is located quite close to the centre of Dublin and for those who can afford it, walking there might be more reasonable.

Event organiser MCD said gates to the Eras Tour opened at 17:00 local time, however, some fans with early entry ticket packages were able to enter the venue from 15:00.

The program starts at 6:00 p.m. with the opening act being the group Paramore.

Swift then began her massive three-and-a-half hour set around 7:00 p.m.

MCD has also warned that briefcases, handbags, luggage or purses larger than clutch bags are prohibited.

For those looking for the merchandise, it’s available at the 3Arena on Dublin’s North Wall Quay until Sunday.

A number of other events will take place across the Irish capital, including:

• Shania Twain, Malahide Castle – Friday 28 June
• Dublin Pride Parade, Dublin City Centre – Saturday 29 June
• Longitude Festival, Marlay Park – Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June
• GAA Football All-Ireland Quarter-Finals, Croke Park – Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June