Taylor Swift Fans Will Have To Wait Until 2021 To See Her 'Lover' Fest Tour

For Swifties, the summer of 2020 really will be a cruel one. In a Twitter post shared on Friday, April 17, Taylor Swift announced her Lover Festival Tour has been canceled — or at least pushed back to 2021 due to continued concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. "I'm so sad I won't be able to see you guys in concert this year, but I know this is the right decision," the singer wrote, before asking her fans to "please, please stay healthy and safe."

She continued, "I’ll see you on stage as soon as I can but right now what’s important is committing to this quarantine, for the sake of all of us." Swift also included an official statement in her post, where she wrote that "fighting COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge for our global community and the safety and well-being of fans should always be the top priority." Because health officials continue to discourage "large public gatherings for an undetermined period of time," she felt that it was only right to protect her fans and crew by postponing shows.

In the statement, Swift explained that the U.S. leg of her tour — originally scheduled to kick off on July 25 in Los Angeles — and Brazilian dates have both been moved to 2021. The exact new dates of those shows will be announced later this year, and any Swift fans who already purchased tickets to those shows will have those tickets honored. However, anyone who wants a refund will also be able to get their money back from Ticketmaster as of May 1, 2020.

When she first announced the tour dates back in September, Swift explained to fans that she wanted to do something different to celebrate her seventh studio album. "The Lover album is open fields, sunsets, + SUMMER," Swift wrote on social media. "I want to perform it in a way that feels authentic. I want to go to some places I haven’t been and play festivals." In order to add to the summery vibe, Swift also added that "where we didn’t have festivals, we made some," in order to create the tour that she was dubbing, "Lover Fest East + West!"

According to Billboard, the Lover Fest Tour was going to feature surprise guests and a differing set list at every show, in order to "challenge" Swift's creative ambitions and desire to change things up. "I wanted to be able to perform in places that I hadn’t performed in as much, and to do things I hadn’t done before, like Glastonbury," she told Variety in January. "I feel like I haven’t done festivals, really, since early in my career — they’re fun and bring people together in a really cool way."

While the Lover Fest might be a bigger undertaking than she's ever done before, it will also feature much fewer dates than any of her past tours. "I also wanted to be able to work as much as I can handle right now, with everything that’s going on at home," Swift explained, referencing her mother's ongoing battle with cancer. "We don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what treatment we’re going to choose. It just was the decision to make at the time, for right now, for what’s going on."

By postponing her tour dates until the summer of 2021, Swift will be able to spend even more time with her mother and keep herself and her fans safe and sound.

If you think you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, which include fever, shortness of breath, and cough, call your doctor before going to get tested. If you’re anxious about the virus’s spread in your community, visit the CDC or NHS 111 in the UK for up-to-date information and resources, or seek out mental health support. You can find all Bustle’s coverage of coronavirus here, and UK-specific updates on coronavirus here.