Fans make push to bring Taylor Swift #BacktoSaskatch

What will it take to tempt Taylor Swift back to Saskatchewan?

Local fans — and some invested municipal politicians — are hoping a new campaign known as #BacktoSaskatch can get it done. 

Swift, who has been on the road with her Eras tour since March 2023, has announced it will end in December with three shows in Vancouver.

So far, the attempt to draw her eye just a few provinces east is a multi-pronged effort, including attempts at a record-breaking friendship bracelet and dance party, and promises to rename Saskatchewan place names if she agrees to come through. 

The #BacktoSaskatch campaign began with Wheels, a DJ on Regina radio station Z99, after he heard about a long-ago post on Twitter, now known as X, where Swift praised the province. 

"Saskatoon rules! I went antique shopping there. I like to shorten Saskatchewan. Like 'I got this lamp in Saskatch,'" she wrote in 2009. 

"I thought, wait a minute, Taylor Swift loves Saskatchewan? Well, maybe we can invite her back," Wheels said. "You just never know what happens when you try." 

Naming it #BacktoSaskatch based on Swift's post, Wheels watched as his campaign took off, beginning with a promise from Swift Current's leaders to temporarily rename the city "Taylor Swift Current."  

"I know she's in the middle of her Eras tour right now. I can't think of a better place when her tour winds down to come and kick back and relax and be able to walk up and down the street without too much hassle," said Swift Current Deputy Mayor Ryan Switzer.

Regina chimed in next, with Mayor Sandra Masters asking residents to "show their Swiftie spirit" and come up with an idea that's "just as great" as the Swift Current name change. 

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark also has a plan, telling a Z99 interviewer that he'd consider temporarily renaming the city's Taylor Street "Taylor Swift Street" if the campaign is a success. 

'A love letter from the province' 

Z99 is also organizing events to bring out Saskatchewan's population of Swifties, including an event last weekend in Regina to attempt to create the world's longest friendship bracelet. 

Next up, Wheels said, is an attempt to organize the world's largest Taylor Swift dance party at Country Thunder Saskatchewan. 

"I think all of this together, packaged as a mosaic, almost like a love letter from the province … we might be able to get her attention and say, 'Hey Taylor Swift, we miss you,'" he said. 

Some Saskatchewan businesses are getting in on the action, too. 

At TWB Home Decor, a gift shop in Emerald Park, Sask., "Back to Saskatch" merchandise is on the shelves. 

And at Cedar Creek Gardens, an attraction outside of Regina that hosts a corn maze, employee Taylor Crassweller created a special message visible from the sky. 

"BacktoSaskatchCornEraTour," he wrote in the corn stalks that will form part of the maze.

Taylor Swift last performed in Saskatchewan in 2009 at the Craven Country Jamboree, now known as Country Thunder Saskatchewan. She last visited the province in 2012 for the Canadian Country Music Association awards. 

Beyond her Tweet all those years ago, Swift also showed the province some love in a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

"On the road I go antique shopping all the time," she said. "I bought a lot of furniture in, like, Saskatchewan, Canada."

As clips like that one make the rounds, hopeful fans are keeping close watch on Swift, just in case she's dropping hints for Saskatchewan Swifties. 

A photo of Taylor Swift on stage in Liverpool, dressed in a sparkling yellow and green outfit, caught the attention of one. 

Posting it in a fan group next to a green and yellow Saskatchewan flag, she asked, "Is this an Easter Egg? I most definitely think this is a reach … but still fun!"