After eight years — four of them spent in prison for fraud — scammer Billy McFarland still hasn’t given up on Fyre Festival. In fact, he’s working on a second iteration of the infamous disaster that will apparently run from May 30 to June 2 in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. “Fyre 2 is real,” he told Today in a new sit-down interview. “My dream is finally becoming a reality.” Sounds like a threat.
The original Fyre Festival was marketed as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas and was promoted by celebs such as Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid. But instead of experiencing the A-list weekend that McFarland had promised, attendees role-played Survivor, stranded on the island eating sad cheese sandwiches and sleeping in disaster-relief tents, all while the world watched and reveled in their misfortune.
McFarland has been trying to get Fyre Fest 2 off the ground since his release from prison in 2022. But this time will be different, he says, because he’s not handling the details himself — instead, a festival operator has signed on to take over, as have hotel, travel, and ticketing companies. Does that make me feel better about this whole situation? No, not really.
Although McFarland told Today that the festival will feature artists across genres, there is currently no official lineup. As for the “luxury experiences,” he says that the festival “might have a professional skateboarder do a demonstration.” They also “might have an MMA champion teach you techniques in the morning.” Sounds a lot like the promises that were made for Fyre Fest 1, just in a different font.
According to the festival’s website, tickets start at $1,400 and go as high as $1.1 million for an experience that will allegedly include on-stage access, a 24/7 private-chauffeur service, fight team access at the Fight Pit (?), and access to the Prometheus Marina — whatever that is — for eight people.
Although I have zero expectations, I’m hoping that no one is hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked, or led astray this time. Fingers crossed.