Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour-Themed Birthday Party Was a ‘Giant Surprise,’ Friend Reveals

Taylor Swift‘s friends and family made her feel extra bejeweled at her recent birthday party, which apparently came as a “giant surprise” to the pop star, longtime friend Ashley Avignone revealed.

Sharing photos from the blowout on Instagram Thursday (Dec. 19), the stylist shared that the “Anti-Hero” singer “thought she was going to a small, quiet dinner” when her posse really had a full-on extravaganza inspired by Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour planned. In the snaps, the 14-time Grammy winner poses with the HAIM sisters, dances on a light-up floor in an Evermore cloak and holds up a cocktail while smiling with Brittany Mahomes.

“It was actually a giant surprise party with her friends and family, props included,” Avignone added.

Other pictures show Swift grinning with boyfriend Travis Kelce, who sported a suit and top hat and at one point appeared to share remarks while holding a microphone. In one picture, he places a black cap onto his superstar girlfriend’s head as she blushes — just as Swift did to one lucky fan every night on the Eras Tour during the Red set — which Avignone posted on her Story and wrote, “and the last 22 hat goes to…”

Brittany Mahomes — who is married to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was also in attendance — shared her own slew of pictures from the birthday bash. The posts come a few days after Swift’s actual birthday on Dec. 13, on which she turned 35 just five days after closing out her Eras trek in Vancouver, B.C..

The close of the historic tour — which grossed an unprecedented $2 billion+ at the end of its two-year run — is just one of many things Swift has to celebrate as she rings in another year around the sun. Her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, recently returned to the top of the Billboard 200 for a 16th and 17th week at No. 1, and the musician is up for six Grammys at the 2025 awards.