Convicted fraudster Billy McFarland says the Fyre Festival disaster was so nice he’s gonna do it twice. Announcing Fyre Festival II—tickets start at $499. Here’s the latest.
Billy McFarland pleaded guilty to fraud and received a sentence of six years in federal prison back in 2018. McFarland was released from prison in May 2022 and was held under house arrest until September 2022. The original Fyre Festival, in partnership with Ja Rule became a viral sensation after using models and social media influencers to promote a glamorous music festival in the Caribbean. Tickets to the event quickly sold out, but when concertgoers arrived, they were shellshocked to find what amounted to refugee tents on beaches rather than the luxurious beach suites they were promised.
Now Billy McFarland says he knows what went wrong and he’s got a 50-page plan to make Fyre Festival II: Electric Boogaloo better than ever.
“This is a big day because, as of right now, Fyre Festival 2 tickets are officially on sale,” McFarland says in a TikTok video. “It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here, and it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement,” he admits.
“Ultimately, we decided that Fyre Festival 2 is coming back to the Caribbean,” McFarland continues. “We are targeting Fyre Festival 2 for the end of next year and, in the meantime, we will be doing pop-ups and events across the world.”
Tickets for the revived disaster festival in the Caribbean are now on sale for an event pegged to happen December 6, 2024. The first batch of tickets has already sold out at their $499 ‘early bird’ pricing. So who is performing? Who knows. We don’t know a location, who would produce, sponsor, or anything else about the actual music festival. But here’s what we do know.
Billy McFarland owes the victims of the first Fyre Festival more than $26.4 million. A judge ordered him to pay 40% of a $19,000 speaking fee to that sum, so ostensibly any money collected from this effort would also go towards making the original Fyre Festival victims whole. Who would sign on for that? And if you would, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona I’ll sell you—just $499.