San Antonio's very own 210 Swifties are building a community. At a recent event at The Rock Box on East Houston Street, over 300 self-proclaimed 'Swifties,' decked out in their finest Taylor Swift-themed attire, sang along to the pop sensation's hits in a spectacle of unity and fandom. Celebrating Swift's "Eras Tour," the group, which began with a modest five members, has since seen its ranks swell on social media - Instagram following surging to nearly 900 and a Facebook group of over 1,100 strong, as per San Antonio Report.
Amber Rodriguez, an Instagram admin for the 210 Swifties, emphasized the deep sense of kinship within the group. "Post [joining] 210 Swifties, 'community' is so much more dynamic and lively of a word to me. It definitely evokes more emotion than before, thinking about all these people who have shared pieces of their life and this love for the same thing," Rodriguez told San Antonio Report. The organization is known for hosting a variety of monthly events, from dance parties and karaoke sessions to more laid-back coffee meetups and yoga classes, appealing to fans across a spectrum of ages and interests.
These gatherings have become a safe haven for fans looking to express themselves, like Mary Nava, a Texas A&M University-San Antonio student and founder of the 210 Swifties. “I really like the dance parties because I’m a shy person..so at the dance parties, I can just be myself,” Nava said in a San Antonio Report interview. Conversations that begin with all things Taylor Swift often transition into personal storytelling and mutual support among the members.
For Lisa Anchondo, a mother of two and general manager of Anchor Bar, the group incarnates that notion of home. After moving from Killeen, Anchondo organized a Taylor Swift-themed NFL watch party which was a hit among the fans. “It was 60 of us Swifties just standing up and screaming. We had our whole area and sound; no judgment or anything,” Anchondo reminisced in the San Antonio Report.
Taylor Swift's impact extends beyond these local communities, prompting the University of Texas at Austin's Dr. Elizabeth Scala to integrate her discography into an academic setting. Noting the singer's cultural influence and use of literary devices on par with famed writers, Scala remarks, “Life tends to be a mess. And only when you reflect on it, write it down, film it or sing it, do you give it an artistic shape that you process it…giving it a form that other people can use, think with and think through,” as she explained to San Antonio Report.
