A slick video featuring top models and exotic locations was used to promote the Fyre festival in the Bahamas that has descended into chaos for hundreds of ticket holders. Video / Supplied
It really is true what they say - there is no such thing as bad publicity.
‘Catastrophic’, ‘disastrous’ and ‘scam’ are just a few words people have used to describe the original Fyre Festival, which garnered mass public attention following its spectacular failure in 2017.
Founded and organised by self-proclaimed entrepreneur Billy McFarland, the event was marketed as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas, but instead, was a shambles in the middle of nowhere.
Despite the infamous event’s bad reputation - and the convicted fraudster spending four years in jail - McFarland announced this week the first 100 tickets to Fyre Festival II had gone on sale for $499 (NZ$835) each, reports news.com.au.
According to the festival’s website, the pre-sale tickets have already sold out.
Co-founders Ja Rule and McFarland. Photo / Netflix
Festival-goers, some of whom paid nearly $12,000 (NZ$20,000) to attend the event, were promised an immersive musical experience with performances from Pusha T, Tyga and Skepta, as well as the opportunity to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. Models such as Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid were the faces of the festival, but none of them attended the event.
A high-production video and social media campaign marketed Fyre Festival to the masses as a “music festival like no other”, with influencers and big-name celebrities around the world posting a single orange tile on their Instagram profiles to promote the event.
Vanity Fair reported at the time McFarland had employed the services of 400 influencers and celebrities to advertise the festival.
The event was contrived by McFarland and early 2000s rap star Ja Rule in a move to advance their Fyre Media business, an app that would let people book musical acts for private parties.
However, the highly publicised festival would soon be surrounded by controversy.
What happened at the Fyre Festival?
Food at the original Fyre Festival was shocking. Photo / Netflix
The event was held on April 2017 and soon spiralled into disaster as attendees live-tweeted the chaos.
Multiple music artists pulled out of the festival at the last minute when they didn’t receive their promised payments, the “luxury” accommodation was in fact just a campground and there was scarce food due to the catering company cancelling their contract a few weeks prior.
A picture posted on Twitter (now X) of a few slices of cheese, white bread and a small salad in a plastic container went viral, as fuming attendees demanded refunds.
“So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organisation. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city,” ticket-holder William N Finley tweeted when he arrived at the event.
Many festival-goers attempted to fly home but were stranded on the island for hours, if not days.
Some of the accomodation at Fyre Festival. Photo / YouTube
Fyre Festival’s monumental failure and the ensuing social media craze became the subject of many documentaries, one of which became a Netflix hit.
Many of the social media users who slammed the festival joked it was retribution for the rich and famous, who had forked out thousands of dollars to be conned by one of pop culture’s most notorious swindlers.
McFarland spent four years out of a six-year sentence in jail for wire fraud in connection to his part in financing the original festival. Ja Rule faced various lawsuits but was eventually cleared of all charges.
Shockingly, McFarland revealed he was launching Fyre Festival II as a favour to all the people he still owes money to.
Billy McFarland, the promoter of the failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, leaves federal court after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges in New York. Photo / AP
“Tell me why you shouldn’t be in jail,” one social media user commented on his tweet announcing the second-time festival.
“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 replied, adding that he still owes creditors $26 million (NZ$43.4m).
Fyre Festival II is due to take place in late 2024. However, its exact date hasn’t been confirmed. Tickets to the festival will be released in stages, with final-stage “Pre-Sale Last Chance” tickets costing $7999 (NZ$13,400).
Who knows - perhaps the greatest party to ever flop will be a big success the second time around.
