For many, going to concerts is about more than just seeing a favorite artist live—it’s also about community. For a few hours, a group of strangers are united by their love for a musical artist. The atmosphere of excitement and appreciation for music shared between fans is part of what makes a concert experience special. 

At Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour concerts, fans (Swifties) are putting on ‘fan projects’ to make their concert experience memorable. Fan projects are organized activities or efforts meant to unite fans of an artist. They typically take place during a concert but are planned ahead of time on social media.

Since the start of the tour, trading friendship bracelets has become a popular fan project uniting Swift fans together. Many people make bracelets with Taylor Swift lyrics, references, or inside jokes and trade them with other fans at the concert.

“Right before the tour…Swifties started making friendship bracelets and bringing them to the eras tour to trade,” Swift fan Reagan Baylee said on TikTok. “I brought eleven total bracelets to the tour and all of them referenced different Taylor Swift songs or albums.” 

The idea of friendship bracelet trading arose on TikTok and has since spread. The idea was allegedly inspired by a line in Swift’s song “You’re On Your Own, Kid” that reads:  “Make the friendship bracelets; take the moment and taste it.” While also reminding fans of youthful joy and innocence, bracelet trading is a way to connect with strangers over a shared love of music. 

“It was such a fun experience,” Baylee said. “I started trading bracelets when I was at the airport. I saw other swifties [and] if they were wearing bracelets, we would trade.”