Russians launch package holidays to see Taylor Swift and Coldplay
Vladimir Putin has found creative ways to get around Western trade restrictions on everything from luxury cars to toys. Now, Russia is addressing a different kind of boycott: western pop.
A Russian company has launched package holidays to see acts such as Taylor Swift and Coldplay elsewhere in Europe after performers stopped touring the country in response to the war in Ukraine.
Tour operator Russia Express’s current packages include trips to see Ed Sheeran and Deep Purple in Serbia, James Blunt in the United Arab Emirates and the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in Turkey.
Russians desperate to see Ed Sheeran perform can pay the equivalent of £900 for a five-day all-inclusive trip to his concert in Belgrade this August.
A spokesman for Russia Express said that it had sold 150 package holidays for concerts coming up this autumn and said these musical tours have proved “consistently popular”.
Moscow was once a key stop on most major artists’ European and world tours. However, performers have been boycotting Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, amid heavy Western sanctions.
Jonny Tickle, a British man living in Moscow, said: “Some companies were doing [pop star package holidays] before 2022, but it has really been blowing up since.
“Western artists are very popular in Russia, everyone still listens to English music. And Moscow used to be on their tours, but obviously that is no longer the case.”
Russia Express’s spokesman said it selected which artists to feature in order to appeal to “both young people and the older generation”.
“Imagine Dragons and Snoop Dog are the choice of young people. Scorpions and Rammstein are the choice of older people,” the spokesman said.
Russia Express is not alone – earlier this year Moscow radio station Europa Plus launched a competition called “Live Tour 2024” that will run across the entirety of the year and offers a series of trips to concerts and festivals around the world. Prizes on offer include all-inclusive packages to see Coldplay in Budapest, Pink in Stockholm, Adele in Munich and Taylor Swift in Vienna.
Past prizes have included tickets to festivals such as Untold in Dubai, Lollapalooza in São Paulo and Mad Cool in Madrid, where Dua Lipa was headlining.
Mr Tickle said: “The adverts are everywhere in Moscow, all over the bus stops.”
Russian airlines have been banned from flying into the European Union and the EU has tightened visa restrictions for tourists, which means travel to the EU has become much harder, though not impossible.
The terms and conditions of Europa Plus’ competition say the organiser is not responsible for ensuring that prize winners have the necessary documents for travel.
