Outrage as Billy McFarland declares Fyre Festival II ‘is happening’
Hundreds of starved and stranded patrons, a fraud conviction and two savage documentaries later, the ‘worst music festival never staged’ is back.
Shambolic, catastrophic, scam and chaos are just some of the words used to describe Fyre Festival, which was billed as a luxury music experience on an expensive private island in the Bahamas.
The 2017 event has been cemented in infamy after failing spectacularly in the hands of a brash entrepreneur named Billy McFarland.
Still – a four-year prison term for fraud and two documentaries later – Fyre might return for a mulligan.
“Fyre Festival II is finally happening,” McFarland, a convicted fraudster, recently declared on Twitter.
“Tell me why you should be invited.”
Attendees for the inaugural festival, some of whom paid up to $17,900 ($US12,000) for tickets, were promised an immersive music experience with artists including Pusha T, Tyga and Skepta, as well as the opportunity to rub shoulders with Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber – all of whom never made it to the event.
🔥 Fyre Festival II is finally happening.
— Billy McFarland (@pyrtbilly) April 10, 2023
Tell me why you should be invited.
“(It will be) two transformative weekends, the best in food, art, music and adventure, on the boundaries of the impossible,” promotional content for the doomed festival promised.
Tickets included VIP flights, luxury villa accommodation, with big spenders offered the chance to hang out with performers.
But come the opening weekend, hundreds were left stranded and starving with soggy mattresses and dilapidated FEMA tents.
The dream event quickly became a nightmare as attendees live-tweeted the peril.
Fyre Festival had been instead characterised by long lines for registration, scraps over the dodgy tents, and bland, poor-quality meals – even being locked in an airport terminal without food, water or airconditioning.
The result? A flurry of lawsuits, years in jail for its founder and two documentaries – one a Netflix hit – exposing the shambles.
Organisers blamed poor weather and “circumstances out of our control” for much of the chaos and it was later revealed that the festival’s top musical acts pulled out days before the event due to a lack of payment.
McFarland served four years of a six-year prison sentence for wire fraud relating to his role in financing the original festival.
“Tell me why you shouldn’t be in jail,” one of the thousands of respondents to his tweeted announcement said.
“It’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. People aren’t getting paid back if I sit on the couch and watch TV … and because I served my time,” McFarland responded, referencing the fact he still owes creditors $39 million.
it's in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. people aren't getting paid back if i sit on the couch and watch tv.
— Billy McFarland (@pyrtbilly) April 11, 2023
and because i served my time.
Others took shots at the McFarland’s attempt at a revival.
“If you need any help with planning, there’s a great documentary on this!” one responded.
“Perhaps we should instead beg not to attend?” responded US journalist Benjamin Ryan.
“How do I short this,” a Jim Cramer spoof account replied.
Rapper Ja Rule, listed as a co-founder, faced over a dozen lawsuits for the flop but was eventually legally cleared of wrongdoing.
Major Aus festivals thrown into chaos
Some of the handful of Australian festivals left have been thrown into uncertainty after a major ticketing platform has gone bankrupt.
Fyre Festival crook’s surprise return
The man who masterminded the disastrous Fyre Festival disaster is back — and he has a plan to do it all again.
Major Aussie music festival cancelled
Event organisers of a major Aussie music festival adored by revellers across the nation has been cancelled.