‘Surreal’: Longtime Taylor Swift fans in Victoria win tickets to singer’s upcoming concert

Taylor Swift fans from B.C.’s capital finally have their hands on two tickets to the pop singer’s upcoming concert after winning big at Saturday’s Victoria Royals game.

You could say Henley Woods is a Swiftie — a follower of Swift, the American singer-songwriter with a big catalogue of hit songs.

“I love her so much and love her music. I love the words. She has such good lyrics. She always puts personality into the songs, and I love the beats,” said Henley, less than a day after her and her mom Nicole were announced over the PA system as the winners.

The pair knew the Royals hockey team was giving away tickets for the December 2024 concert, but they never thought they’d win.

“We were just looking forward to an evening with friends and watching some hockey. The next thing you know, they were calling our seat. From that point on, it’s just been surreal,” Nicole told CHEK News. “Totally surreal.”

Henley’s a long-time fan of Swift, and, through her daughter, Nicole has grown to love the singer’s music, too. So they’ve been trying to score tickets for a while now.

Swift is performing on Nov. 14-16 and 21-23, 2024, in Toronto, followed by shows on Dec. 6-8, 2024, at BC Place in Vancouver. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the singer to bring her Eras Tour to Canada, and a few months later, Premier David Eby suggested she make a stop in B.C.

“You won’t regret it,” said Eby on Instagram.

The Eras Tour, which kicked off in the U.S. in March and will span at least two years, has become one of the most lucrative shows in history.

“We tried to get tickets to Toronto first, and nothing. We tried to get tickets to Vancouver. And her older sisters got tickets, but not Henley. We pretty much figured it wasn’t going to happen to us for next year,” said Nicole.

“But all of a sudden this got dropped in our laps, and we just can’t believe it.”

‘I’ve never run so fast’

While there was no Bad Blood, it wasn’t the quickest win. Henley and Nicole weren’t actually sitting in the correct seats when it was announced which seat number won.

“We were there with good friends of ours, and they had extra seats, so we were sitting down with them. It didn’t even occur to me to sit in our seat…we saw other people there, and we weren’t going to make them move,” recalled Nicole.

“And then, when they called (the winning seat number), I’m looking at my phone with the seat number, and I’m not in it. The next thing you know…another person is jumping up and down. I thought, ‘Oh no, I better get up there,'” she laughed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life up those stairs.”

Then Henley got tears of joy.

“When…she started to figure out what was going on, she basically just sat there and bust into tears and couldn’t stop crying,” said Nicole.

“As soon as she shoved her phone in their face saying that we got the tickets, I was so excited. And I didn’t even know if we had gotten the tickets yet. I was just so excited because I’ve always wanted to see Taylor Swift,” added Henley.

The pair say it was the perfect way to end the year. The Royals also won, beating the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 in overtime.

“It really couldn’t have been any better. It didn’t occur to me for one second that we would win those tickets. Out of 7,000 people, the whole thing has just been amazing,” said Nicole.

“We’re so, so grateful.”

Editorial Policies Report an Error