- Billy McFarland confirmed Fyre Festival 2 during interview with TODAY
- McFarland was found guilty of defrauding investors out of $27.4m
- The Fyre Festival founder spent almost four years in prison after first festival ended in disaster
You know the old cliché, “If at first you don’t succeed, serve four years hard time for defrauding investors out of over $25m, become one of the most disgraced con-men of the 21st century and try again”? well it fits absolutely perfectly for Billy McFarland and his latest news: Fyre Festival 2 is official.
Because Fyre Festival 1 went so swimmingly.
Oh wait.
For anyone who has somehow forgotten the Titanic sized disaster that was the first Fyre Festival, it was a joint venture between McFarland and Ja Rule (or was he hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked and lead astray?) in which a luxury festival was supposed to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.
Narrator: The luxury festival did not take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.
What Happened At Fyre Festival?
Fyre Festival did not take place anywhere as the entire operation was a fraudulent catastrophe, conning thousands out of thousands after the event had been heavily promoted using the likes of Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Kendall Jenner (who reportedly received $250,000 for a solitary post) on Instagram.
Acts such as Pusha T, Tyga, Lil Yachty, Disclosure, Migos and Blink-182 were announced as part of a very expensive sounding lineup, which promptly fell apart when, well, they all simply pulled out when they realised there was absolutely no chance of the festival actually happening.
Major issues with security, catering, accommodation, medical services and the most preposterously catastrophic cheese sandwiches known to humankind would eventually lead to the entire festival being cancelled and a deluge of lawsuits descending on McFarland and Ja Rule. After festival goers had been left stranded on Great Exuma and in Exuma Airport without access to basic amenities, of course.
McFarland would eventually be sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud in a Manhattan Court in 2018. He would be released in March 2022 after serving just less than four years of his sentence, having been dubbed ‘the poster boy of millennial scamming’ by Vanity Fair.
So, after almost four years behind bars, millions paid out in damages and a reputation in tatters, McFarland couldn’t try it all again. Could he?
Narrator: The wealthy, entitled tech bro could absolutely try it all again.
Fyre Festival 2
Speaking to TODAY in an interview that aired on February 24, McFarland announced that Fyre Festival 2 was official, saying, “FYRE 2 is real. My dream is finally becoming a reality. FYRE 2 really isn’t about the past, and it’s not really about me. It’s about taking the vision, which is strong.”
McFarland has admitted there is risk involved in attempting another Fyre Festival. Which is a relief. Now he’s recognised throwing a luxury music festival as a known con-man involves risk then everything should run swimmingly.
“I think it’s always a risk. You’re taking a risk because I made a lot of bad decisions and messed up the first festival. Until it’s experienced, there is a risk component to it,” McFarland told NBC News’ Savannah Sellers in September 2024.
“Since 2016 Fyre has been the most talked about music festival in the world. Obviously, a lot of that has been negative, but I think that most people, once they kind of get under the hood and study the plans and see the team behind Fyre II, they see the upside… And if it’s done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry.”
When is Fyre Festival 2?
Fyre Festival 2 is currently scheduled to take place between May 30 and June 2. It was initially planned for a month earlier, but was pushed back.
Where is Fyre Festival 2?
McFarland has confirmed that the festival will take place in Isla Mujeres, an island off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. McFarland has revealed that an “incredible production company” will be “handling everything from soup to nuts.” And baby, nothing screams luxury like soup AND nuts.
Who is Playing Fyre Festival 2?
No lineup has been announced as of yet, although McFarland told TODAY, “We’re going to have artists across electronic, hip hop, pop and rock. However, it’s not just music. We might have a professional skateboarder do a demonstration. We might have an MMA champion teach you techniques in the morning.”
Ticket Prices
Tickets, should you be interested in attending McFarland’s second stab at Fyre Festival, range from $1,400 to $1.1m, if you have a spare million dollars to spend on festival tickets. There is 2,000 tickets going on sale today (February 24) with McFarland claiming 100 packages priced at $500 each have already been sold. The $1.1m tickets, the convicted felon states, “will be on a boat, have the luxury yachts that we partner with who will be docked and parked outside the island.
“But once again, Fyre is not just about this, like, luxury experience. It’s about the adventure. So you’ll be scuba diving with me. You’ll be bouncing around to other islands and other countries on small planes.”
There has been, as of yet, no update on the bottled water situation.
