Canadians flock to Seattle for Blue Jays, Taylor Swift; city expects ‘record breaking’ tourism weekend

Both the Toronto Blue Jays and Taylor Swift will be in Seattle this weekend, marking the only time of the year fans of either in B.C. will be able to take in a performance or game.

Michael Woody, the senior vice president of Visit Seattle, says between the three baseball games, two concerts, two other conventions, and six cruise ships docking in the city this week, it’s going to be a busy time.

“We’re really expecting this weekend to be record-breaking,” he told CityNews. “There aren’t any concerts for Taylor up in Canada so this is a great opportunity for folks to come down and see her here in Seattle, so we are anticipating more of our Canadian friends to join us this weekend.”

Read More: BC Ferries, borders busy as British Columbians head south for Blue Jays, Taylor Swift

The Blue Jays will be playing the Seattle Mariners on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend. Taylor Swift will be performing at Lumen Field — directly beside the ballpark — on Saturday and Sunday night.

Border lineups from Metro Vancouver into Washington were already hours long throughout Friday morning as Canadians made their way to the Emerald City.

“We’re seeing a pretty big sellout situation for the hotel situation for the downtown area and around the stadiums,” noted Woody.

“If you look at attendance for Taylor Swift, a sellout for each night is 72,000. We have 50,000 per game for the ballpark for the Blue Jays and Mariners.”

Woody says the injection of tourists this weekend is much-needed as the tourism industry continues to rebound from the pandemic.

“We certainly are well on a path to recovery, but we haven’t gotten back to 2019 numbers, just like the rest of the tourism economy,” he said.

Vancouverites excited for concerts, baseball games

It’s the perfect storm for Vancouverites who are fans of both Swift and the Blue Jays.

Among those is Tia Tablada, who made the trip to Seattle to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

“We’re in the middle of the Venn diagram of the two things that are happening this weekend,” she told CityNews.

However, Tablada does not yet have concert tickets, saying she hopes to get some last-minute for either performance.

“Our backup plan is going to be tailgating outside and we’ll just hang out with every Swifty that’s not able to get into the concert,” she said.

For Emily Peden and Connor Newcombe, who also travelled from Vancouver to Seattle on Friday, the weekend has been circled on their calendars for months.

“It was God’s plan, you know? It’s very exciting that both things that are happening at once. Blue Jays are always an exciting weekend because of the amount of Canadians that are there, but it’s also a special treat to get to be able to see Taylor Swift,” Peden told CityNews.

Connor Newcombe (left) and Emily Peden (right) have been looking forward to the Toronto Blue Jays/Taylor Swift crossover in Seattle since November, 2022. (Supplied)

“This month leading up to it has been something we’ve been talking about every day and work was a bit of a hassle to get through this week, but we made it. We’re looking forward to having some beer and baseball,” Newcombe added.

Newcombe will be going to all three baseball games this weekend, while Peden and a friend will be going to Friday and Saturday’s games before taking in Sunday’s Swift concert.

“I think it’s going to be pretty bonkers the whole weekend,” Peden said.