How Do They Pick Who Gets the “22” Hat? Eras Tour Secrets

The Eras Tour feels like it will never end and, for Taylor Swift fans, that’s a dream. If you’re looking to go to the tour any time soon, you should be prepared for a lot of little traditions, intricacies, and new happenings at this unique show.

Throughout the three-hour set, Taylor goes through most of the eras in her life and even adds in a few surprise songs. Fair warning: She doesn’t even touch her debut era, so don’t get your hopes up. However, the Red era has one of the most exciting and adorable moments.

I don’t know about you, but we’re feeling like we want the “22” hat! If you don’t know, Taylor’s stint through her Red era includes a little bit of crowd interaction.

As she’s performing her hit song, Taylor breaks away from her dancers and heads to the end of her catwalk stage. Waiting there is a hopeful fan who is typically filled with a lot of excitement as the pop star takes a hat off her own head and hands it to them.

There’s often quite a few tears spilt and the fan will sometimes hand Taylor a friendship bracelet. Fans will hug Taylor and get the chance to exchange a few quick words before she needs to head back to finish out the song and her choreography.

Now, that sounds like every fans dream, so how does Taylor decide? The truth is that she doesn’t typically have much say in who she hands the hat off to. In the crowd at every show, Taylor has little spies who are actually just members of her management team and known as Taylor Nation.

Most of the time, they’ll find a fan at random in the crowd who seems to be very excited and enthused. Basically, they’re looking for someone who definitely loves Taylor and wasn’t just dragged there by their Swiftie best friend.

Leading up to the Red set, they’ll ask the individual to follow them and will be led down into the right section. During “Long Live,” they’ll hang out there until it’s time for “22.”

It’s not always a random fan, though. There have definitely been moments that either Taylor or who team have preselected someone to receive the gift. Sometimes this will be someone active on social media who has made an impact on the fandom in some way.

One time, Taylor handed the hat off to Kobe Bryant’s daughter. Special moments like this truly elevated the event as a whole and keeps fans feeling connected to their favorite artist.

If you’re looking to get picked, just know that the odds are low and there isn’t much you can do to win over Taylor Nation. The only advice that we can give is to potentially post a photo from your seats on Twitter and include your seat numbers for Taylor Nation to potentially see.

In the past, this is how fans would get randomly selected to meet Taylor after the show. However, the Reputation Room meet-and-greet has become a thing of the past. For now, all we have left is the hope to be handed the “22” hat.