As workers scrambled to prepare New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday for the expected lavish wedding of megastars Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the pair gave their clearest hint yet of what their plans might be.

While neither has commented on media reports of a holiday weekend bash, the singer’s publicity team on Thursday said that Kelce and Swift had donated $26 million to several charities in New York and elsewhere this week.

The announcement made no mention of a wedding and Swift’s publicist has not responded to wedding-related questions from Reuters.

But several media outlets reported that Swift and Kelce will hold a 100-person event at the sports arena on Thursday followed by a larger celebration in front of 1,000 people on Friday.

At Madison Square Garden, workers have been hauling in food and decor to make the whole place shimmer. News cameras captured foliage, a box marked “garden party” and another labeled lobster meat. The venue’s public calendar shows no events scheduled until Tuesday – a rare six-day stretch in a summer otherwise packed with concerts, with just the occasional night unbooked.

Streets Closed

Police set up barriers around the venue on Thursday, closing streets and blocking pedestrian walkways.

New York City already was abuzz with major happenings over the U.S. Independence Day weekend. Tall ships will sail into New York Harbor to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday, and a World Cup soccer match is set for Sunday in nearby New Jersey. On Wednesday, onlookers stopped to watch a Russian couple of daredevils who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and unfurled a banner urging world peace.

The big events coincide with high temperatures that prompted city officials to declare a heat emergency. When asked about a potential Swift wedding, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the moment to urge people to stay indoors to protect themselves from the extreme weather.

“If you happen to be getting married at MSG, you will be staying inside and staying cool, and I think it’s a good example to set for the city at large,” he told reporters earlier this week.

Reuters confirmed that an event planning company had applied for a permit to close the streets around the Garden from Thursday through midday Saturday. Fencing was being erected around the venue’s entrances this week.

The venue sits above a major commuter hub, and some commuters and tourists said the preparations and street closures were a hassle for people trying to get around New York. That was not the case for Swift fan and Utah resident Tara Rosales, who said she felt “1,000% excitement” for the event.

“She’s never an inconvenience. Taylor can do whatever she wants,” Rosales said.

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that officers were “tracking” an event at the Garden on Friday night and “will, of course, have a detail in place.” A department spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for additional information.

‘America’s Royal Wedding’

The union of the “Love Story” singer and a Kansas City Chiefs tight end, dubbed “America’s royal wedding,” is one of the most anticipated celebrity weddings of the century. Speculation has intensified since the couple announced their engagement in August following a public courtship that enchanted fans. Cameras caught Swift cheering on Kelce at Chiefs games and followed him as he jetted around the world to her concerts.

A star-studded crowd is expected, given Swift’s roster of celebrity friends, including Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Emma Stone and Gigi Hadid. In one TV interview, Swift joked that she would invite “anyone that I’ve ever talked to.”

Irish television host Graham Norton, who appeared in Swift’s “Opalite” music video, was pictured arriving at New York’s JFK airport.

Swift was a guest on Norton’s BBC chat show last year, and when he asked her when the wedding would take place, the singer said: “Oh, you’ll know … I was going to invite you to it.”

On the groom’s side, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was photographed being fitted for a tuxedo.

(Reporting by Kurt Hall in New York and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian in London; Editing by Scott Malone, Stephen Coates and Nick Zieminski)