More than 10 million people from all over the globe flocked to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour during the 21-country extravaganza across two years. “Swifties” massed for the musical icon. They wore cultural artifacts like friendship bracelets, they embraced the challenge of traveling to her concerts and shared the communal act of singing along to her songs. Could you call the tour a pilgrimage? It certainly held many of the same traits as what are regarded as traditional pilgrimages, says Northeastern associate professor Lars Kjaer.
The concept of a pilgrimage evokes images of pious people marching to holy sites. In the modern day, that idea still holds pulling power. Each year about 2 million Muslims take part in Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, while a record-breaking 446,000 pilgrims in 2023 completed the 500-mile walking route into Spain as part of the Camino de Santiago (“The Way of St James”), a journey that has its origins in medieval times. But pilgrimages do not only have to be about religion, says Kjaer, who teaches anthropology and history on the university’s London campus. The rituals, the journeys and the shared goal manifested in the religious endeavors are also found in cultural phenomena such as the Eras tour, he points out.
Social media was awash with stories of U.S. fans traveling to Europe to see their pop hero — and vice versa. Then there was the ritual of swapping bracelets and the forging of community — a coming together to be part of the crowd-choir at one of Swift’s 152 shows.
