Taylor Swift fans pay $32 for garbage from outside wedding

NEW YORK – Taylor Swift fans have paid US$25 (S$32) for pieces of trash – including cigarette butts and an ovulation test kit – collected near the US pop queen’s wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce.

A New York artist picked up the garbage on July 3 from city streets around Madison Square Garden, where the couple staged a glamorous event for hundreds of celebrity guests amid a global frenzy.

All of items, sold individually, were snatched up by July 8 within 24 hours of sales starting: water bottle caps, ring pop candy, police caution tape, straws, utensils – as well as a single left AirPod.

“It’s getting a lot of Swifties who just want a tangential piece of the wedding,” said Justin Gignac, who is selling the trash on his website New York City Garbage.

Each item – described online as a “sculpture” – is sealed inside a tiny plastic cube to avoid leaking or smells.

Gignac told AFP he has made US$1,250 from selling 50 items so far, and he may put more on the market.

“I try to commemorate cultural moments in New York City, and this seemed to be a big one, so just capturing a little time capsule from that moment in time,” he said.

Gignac, who sells other city trash on his website, said he tied some of the items into knots to “hammer home the wedding theme”.

He pointed out the garbage was from outside the barriers that surrounded Madison Square Garden for Swift’s wedding, not from inside the venue.

The lavish ceremony last week was closely watched by Swift’s fans, who have followed the 14-time Grammy winner’s love life largely through songs based on her relationships.

Some followers descended on New York in hopes of catching a glimpse of their idol, with the star-studded event that some commentators dubbed a “royal wedding”. AFP