Taylor Swift performed “august” at which 2021 awards ceremony before its annual August trend became established?

Taylor Swift performed “august” at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021.

Swift performed “Cardigan,” “august,” and “Willow” together in a staged woodland setting. Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner accompanied her, making the appearance a notable live presentation of Folklore’s atmosphere and storytelling. Swift began with “Cardigan,” performed “august” inside a cottage, and then moved into “Willow.”

The Grammy performance took place before the song’s annual late-summer online ritual became as recognizable as it is today. It helped introduce the track’s fictional world to a large television audience and showed how its three-song storyline could be connected in a single performance.

The ceremony is sometimes confused with the 2021 Grammy Awards’ general year label, but its formal numbering was the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. “august” was not performed at the 2021 American Music Awards or the Brit Awards. The Grammy staging also reinforced the song’s association with cinematic, nostalgic imagery.