As festivals go, there may be none so infamous as Fyre Festival. The 2017 fete, which inspired two documentaries, open derision on late night television, and jail time and a multimillion-dollar judgment against its founder, was a model in Things Gone Wrong. But that’s not stopping its organizer from planning a second.
Billy McFarland, who was convicted on federal fraud charges after the original Fyre Festival, sentenced to six years in prison, and ordered to pay investors back their $26 million, tells the Wall Street Journal he’s not only working on Fyre Festival II, but people have already bought tickets to it.
That’s pretty shocking if you think back to the first Fyre Fest. It was presented to concertgoers as a luxury experience that would feature such bands as Blink-182 and appearances by supermodels, along with private planes and high-end cuisine. In reality, ticket holders were carted to the location by bus, were told to sleep on bare mattresses in damaged tents, and offered cheese sandwiches. The bands and supermodels never showed up.
In the end, hundreds of influencer wannabes thought they were going to a party in the Bahamian island of Great Exuma, but in fact turned out to be trapped without shelter, food, or water. Even business partners were not much better off.
While McFarland insists Fyre Festival II is happening, he concedes he hasn’t locked down a location (though he wants it to be a tropical island again), nor a date, nor any performers. A production company, who he declined to name, allegedly has purchased a 51% stake in the festival’s parent company. That unnamed company will oversee finances and operations, McFarland says. He’ll handle marketing and promotion.
“I think it was obvious that someone else needed to be in control,” he told the Journal.
McFarland put 100 VIP tickets for Fyre Festival II up for sale last month—and some, if not all, of those sold at $549.89 apiece. (McFarland says they all did.) There was talk last year of $1 million all-access tickets. Those never materialized.
It’s a rough time for festivals in general. Participants in this year’s Burning Man found themselves in a massive dust storm that, on the last day, reduced visibility to roughly five feet. That resulted in waits as long as six hours as people attempted to leave the venue. The year before, the festival saw one death after heavy rains turned the festival grounds into thick mud.
Bonnaroo attendees had to brave temperatures of 95 degrees in high humidity. Coachella was plagued by technical issues and, with prices starting at $499, saw the festival’s slowest ticket sales in a decade.
Those festivals actually happened, though. And despite McFarland’s insistence that Fyre Fest II will, there’s understandably ample skepticism—from everyone from would-be attendees to former business partners.
“I’m not sure I can believe anything that he says at this point,” Andy King, an event planner who worked on the original Fyre Fest, tells the Journal.
McFarland, who makes money today largely via paid appearances and speeches, says he knows he will have doubters, but says Fyre Festival II’s success is critical, not only to mend his tarnished reputation (already a big ask), but to maintain his lifestyle. Another disaster like the 2017 event will mean he’s not welcome on podcasts and TV shows, where he’s often a paid guest.
“People are going to be hard-pressed to trust me if I put it all on the line and fail at it twice,” he said.