B.C. Ferries, Hullo add extra sailings for Taylor Swift concerts
Vancouver Island Swifties are already booking their ferry reservations for December shows
B.C. Ferries is feeling 22.
That's how many extra sailings the operator has added between Vancouver and Victoria for the weekend of Dec. 6-8, when Taylor Swift will be performing three back-to-back concerts at B.C. Place.
Hullo — which operates passenger ferries between downtown Vancouver and Nanaimo — says it will also add extra sailings that weekend, including late-night sailings to bring concertgoers home after the show.
While Hullo's bookings will open near the end of the summer, B.C. Ferries reservations for December opened last week — and Vancouver Island Swifties are already snatching them up.
Meghan Smith from Victoria is attending the Sunday concert with her husband and two children.
As soon as she learned from a post on a Swiftie Facebook group that reservations had opened, she booked her spot right away.
Smith went to Swift's Seattle concert last summer and remembers the travel chaos all too well.
"All the trains were booked up months in advance, all the buses," said Smith, who plans to arrive a day before the concert in case of cancellations.
She's advising other Island Swifties to do the same.
"I don't want to be rushing to try to get over there for the show on Sunday and risk anything happening, especially in December, when the weather can be brutal," she said.
Charlotte Palmer, who lives in Nanaimo, plans to travel as a foot passenger for the concert.
And although B.C. Ferries rarely fill up in walk-on space, she wouldn't in her wildest dreams travel without a reservation on Taylor weekend.
"There's going to be such an influx of people into the city from the Island," said Palmer. "I have a feeling it's going to be very busy."
It's not the first time Hullo has added a late-night ferry for special events.
Alastair Caddick, CEO of the Vancouver Island Ferry Company, which operates Hullo, says it has run extra sailings for other concerts like Beyoncé, Guns n Roses and, just recently, Madonna.
"What that allows our guests to do is come over for the day, enjoy the concert, finish the concert, and still have time to get back to our terminal so they can be home that night," said Caddick.
He said the sailing could depart Vancouver at midnight or even later depending when the concert ends.
"We've seen a lot of excitement and demand for those events from people all across Vancouver Island," said Caddick.
In a statement to CBC News, B.C. Ferries said it typically allows up to 80 per cent deck space for reservations on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route, with the remainder being first come, first served.
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