Taylor Swift recently made her highly anticipated return to Indianapolis, concluding the American leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour with three sold-out shows at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. This visit marked Swift’s first performance in the city since her 2018 Reputation Tour, ending a six-year hiatus. The trio of concerts drew hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans, affectionately known as “Swifties,” transforming Indianapolis into a hub of excitement and activity. As Swift herself might say, the city was “Ready for It”.

Swift’s global popularity and unmatched influence in the music industry have a ripple effect far beyond her concerts, with her tour stops delivering significant economic boosts to the cities that host her. While the Eras Tour has grossed an estimated $1 billion for Swift and her team, its impact on local economies is even more staggering—reportedly generating around $4.6 billion across its various stops. Recognizing this potential, Indianapolis officials teamed up with local businesses and nonprofits to create “Swift City,” a weekend-long celebration honoring the singer’s return.

The city enthusiastically embraced the Swift-inspired festivities. Downtown streets featured custom Taylor Swift-themed road signs, and the JW Marriott unveiled a massive display of the Eras Tour poster on its building. Numerous events were held throughout the city, including one hosted by SPARK on the Circle.

SPARK is an artist-run non-profit organization that hosts free monthly respites in the heart of downtown Indy’s Memorial Circle. These respites feature professionally hosted arts and crafts workshops, live performances from local musicians, and interactive games like ping pong and foosball.  “We’re all about bringing people to art and art to the people” said Spark’s Public Art and Programs Manager Julie Xiao. She hopes that through these respites they can “create a space for people, by letting them be creative” and in turn create stronger community ties throughout the city.

For Indianapolis’ Swift City celebration, SPARK hosted a special Taylor Swift-themed respite with activities such as a friendship bracelet making workshop. Friendship bracelets have become almost synonymous with Taylor Swift and her fanbase due to a concert tradition inspired by a song lyric. Aiden Conway, a young fan of Swift, described that in her song “On Your Own Kid”, “…she mentions friendship bracelets. So everybody started making them and going to the concerts and trading them.”

In addition to bracelet-making, SPARK introduced a unique coloring station where participants could color and mail postcards for the organization’s ongoing postcard project. Lauren Pontenburg, a SPARK staff artist who designed the custom Taylor Swift postcard, described that she “scoured through reddit” locating “pieces of her fandom” to add to the postcard. The result was a creation filled with subtle nods that even the most devoted Swifties could appreciate. “The border [of the postcard] is the design she puts on her collar of her shirts in one of her music videos”, Pontenburg added, highlighting the level of detail present throughout the design.

While those designing postcards were allowed to keep them if desired, they were encouraged to participate in SPARK’S postcard project. Participants in the project “can address [their postcard] to anywhere in the world” and SPARK’s staff will mail it out, covering all postage fees. “So far this season from June to November we’ve done around 6,000 postcards.”, said Pontenburg, emphasizing the importance of being able to send mail regardless of the price of stamps.

Both Xiao and Pontenburg expressed their excitement and gratitude that Taylor was finally returning to Indianapolis, as while neither of them would consider themselves Swifties, the sense of joy and community felt around the city was undeniable.

Swift City celebrated Taylors return in the best way for Hoosier Swifties, and even after her departure the city and fans are still here, “Ready for” her next show.