Kids camp out from 4am to see JoJo Siwa at Parramatta
THERE were chaotic scenes at Westfield Parramatta today when thousands of young fans flooded the centre to catch a glimpse of teen sensation JoJo Siwa.
NSW
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THERE were chaotic scenes at Westfield Parramatta today when thousands of young fans flooded the centre to catch a glimpse of teen sensation JoJo Siwa.
Wearing her signature JoJo Bow, fans and their parents queued for hours in the dark to catch the singer’s only Sydney concert, many travelling from interstate.
The Nickeloden star has an enormous following among young girls in Australia —her free Melbourne show earlier this week attracted an “unprecedented crowd” of 15,000 at Eastlands, leading the shopping centre to reassess how it stages large events.
The Parramatta show was equally huge — the centre court had reached capacity by 10am, and fans were urged to head up to levels four and five to watch the performance on a big screen.
Kelly Cheshire from Penrith and her daughters Sophie and Ruby, both 7, arrived at 4am to get in line.
“They woke up with big smiles on their faces at 3am this morning,” she said. “They are very tired now, but it will be worth it for sure.”
Lewis Giorgi from the Central Coast said there were thousands of fans inside the centre and the atmosphere was “absolutely crazy”.
“We lined up from 6am and we were still at the back of the line!” he said.
“We came from Chain Valley Bay and we have three kids (with us) — two of my own, and my niece. My daughter loves JoJo, they love her singing and dancing.”
Many families, however, missed out on seeing their idol due to the huge crowds.
Pauline Hoogkamer had queued since the early hours to get her girls a wristband.
“Outside since 2am to then be pushed over, hurt, home made signs ripped and no wristband. Devasted fans,” she wrote on our Facebook page.
Another mum wrote: “Really sad, got an armband, fights, kids getting pushed over by adults and no one can see. I feel so bad for the kids.”
The Dance Mums star began her Australian visit at the Logies on Sunday, where she walked the red carpet, and on Tuesday, more than 15,000 people — the capacity of Rod Laver Arena — swamped Melbourne shopping centre Eastlands to watch the teen sensation.
Earlier this week, JoJo told the Parramatta Advertiser she was “super excited” for her Sydney show: “It’s crazy to think that I have all of these little kids looking up to me, but it’s awesome.”
The 15-year-old has more than 6.9 million followers on Instagram, more than 1.4 billion views on her YouTube channel and her songs have been streamed millions of times on Spotify. She has also released hit singles, a book, and appear in television shows.
