The so-called Fyre Festival in 2017 turned out to be a notorious scam, sending creator Billy McFarland to prison for fraud. He now claims he’s organizing something called Fyre Festival II, even as he still owes millions to his victims.
McFarland said on Sunday that tickets for round two were officially on sale. By Tuesday, those tickets — 100 of them — were sold out.
Victoria Medvedenko and her boyfriend Cooper Sinkiawic spent nearly $550 each to be among the first buyers.
“If anything, it’ll just be a really cool vacation,” Medvedenko told CBS News.
“Our main concern is that we don’t know if big headliners will be willing to, you know, take that risk to be in something so controversial,” said Sinkiawic. “We’re gonna stay optimistic, but we’re gonna expect that there may be some cheese sandwiches.”
Founder McFarland first advertised the original Fyre Festival more than six years ago with a splashy ad featuring popular models, teasing “the best in food, art, music and adventure” on a private island in The Bahamas.
But festival-goers, who paid thousands of dollars for tickets, showed up to half-built FEMA tents instead of luxury villas, and cold cheese sandwiches instead of gourmet meals. There were no big-name musical acts, and even leaving the island appeared to be a struggle.
The disastrous event ultimately swept the internet and went on to inspire two documentaries.
The festival’s demise also led to a federal investigation that put McFarland behind bars. He was convicted for defrauding investors, and was on the hook to repay his visitors $26 million.
But in April, less than a year after he was released from prison, McFarland tweeted, “Fyre Festival II is finally happening.”
“It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here, and it really all started during a seven-month stint in solitary confinement,” he said in a video posted online Sunday. He said he wrote a 50-page plan on how he’d “make the impossible happen.”
The Fyre Festival II website now says it’s set for December 2024 in “The Caribbean.” No specific location or lineup has been announced.
It almost certainly won’t be in The Bahamas.
“The government of The Bahamas will not endorse or approve any event associated with” Billy McFarland, the ministry of tourism told CBS News in a statement, adding that “he is considered to be a fugitive” there, with several pending complaints against him.
According to the Fyre Festival II website, ticket prices will go up as more go on sale. The most expensive are listed for nearly $8,000.
