Global Taylor Swift fans gather in Liverpool for concerts, city celebrates with 'Taylor Town Trail'

Swifties from around the globe are flocking to Liverpool, which is turning into a veritable 'Taylor Town' in anticipation of a string of concerts.

Taylor Swift is set to take the stage before sold-out audiences at Anfield Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The 'Taylor Town Trail', a collection of 11 works of art representing her albums, has brought some early magic to Merseyside since its unveiling on Saturday.

Fans, some of whom have travelled all the way from New Zealand and the USA for the Eras Tour, were spotted snapping photos with the installations on Wednesday. Queues began to form at the stadium as fans eagerly lined up to buy the pop icon's merchandise.

READ MORE: Live as massive queues for Taylor Swift form in city centre and Anfield

Hannah Horst, 25, from Wisconsin, USA, journeyed to Liverpool with her friends Angela Jacoby, Sam Kappel, both aged 25, and Hannah May, aged 23, after they couldn't secure tickets for Swift's American shows.

She professed: "The city embraces it. We love that, we think that's so great."

Predicting they would be "sobbing" during their idol's concert, the friends referred to Swift as a "welcoming space" and credited themselves as having enjoyed every moment of their trip.

Emily Yorke, a 20 year old fan from Halifax, West Yorkshire, divulged that, after attending a show in Edinburgh last week, she planned on going to two of Anfield's concerts but arrived a day earlier to connect with other fans on the Taylor Trail.

She went on to say: "I'm going to Cardiff next week and then London and then Amsterdam, Milan and Zurich as well."

"She's changed my life completely."

Lauren O'Leary, 37, returned to her native Liverpool from New Zealand specifically for the Swift concert. She expressed her excitement, saying: "It's amazing that she's coming here. It's such a good vibe. It's just going to be a brilliant atmosphere."

Her 18 year old niece Ellie Dohthwaite, who will be joining her at the concert, shared her anticipation: "I've literally cried every morning, I'm so excited."

Claire McColgan, Director of Culture Liverpool, commented on the overwhelming response from fans, stating it had been "off the scale". She added: "Liverpool is no longer Liverpool for this whole week, Liverpool is Taylor Town."

She continued: "It's just been brilliant and people are so polite because there are 11 (art installations), you have to queue, you have to wait."

She also noted the camaraderie among those in line: "The queues are just chatting amongst themselves and then people are just having real moments of coming together with people they don't know."

Ms McColgan described the atmosphere as "It's just been beautiful, it's been an incredible atmosphere across the whole city."

Adding: "It's just been beautiful, it's been an incredible atmosphere across the whole city."

She encouraged those without tickets to still come and experience the 'Taylor magic': "We wanted people to come, if they haven't got tickets but they want a bit of Taylor magic, they can come to Liverpool before the show and just feel it. That's exactly what people are doing."

Having also organised the city's Eurovision celebrations last year, McColgan highlighted the concerts' positive impact on Liverpool's global standing, as well as providing an economic boost. She concluded: "The world can be a very dark place and in Liverpool, it's light."

"When those fans come in, those young women who are just loving Taylor, they'll bring an energy to the place that will just make it really sing and I think that's what great art does and that's what great events do."

Merseyside Police has issued a warning to fans without tickets not to travel to Anfield for the concerts, which are expected to draw crowds of around 53,000 each night.

Chief Superintendent Zoe Thornton stated: "We are anticipating high volumes of people travelling to the city each day and I must ask for the safety of everyone that only those who have a concert ticket should travel to the stadium."

"We have a robust policing operation in place including the deployment of Project Servator officers, who are specially trained to spot the tell-tale signs that someone may have criminal intent, such as gathering information that may help them plan or prepare to commit a crime."