Billy McFarland, the man behind the infamous Fyre Festival is back with a new venture.
The Fyre Festival organiser was released early from prison back in May this year, after he was sentenced to six years in 2018.
Mr McFarland admitted he defrauded millions from investors in his epic fail of a music festival in 2017.
Festival goers paid thousands to attend the event in the Bahamas, only to find out upon arrival the music acts had been cancelled.
Now, he has shared his latest venture with all those who “love to hate” him or “genuinely support” him.
McFarland’s ‘new technology’
Mr McFarland announced on social media his new project PYRT is “not a festival, not an event and it’s definitely not a metaverse”.
Instead, he said, PYRT is a technology he had been working on for a number of years now, “VID/R”.
“The virtual, immersive, decentralised reality,” he said, while standing in front of a whiteboard.
“So what the VID/R is, is a technology that brings together and connects people from around the world, both virtually and physically. Then, once they’re together it allows people to actually affect real world change.”
He said it all starts with PYRT partnering with a “small, remote destination”.
At the destination, PYRT will host artists, content creators, entrepreneurs and anyone else willing to go.
In addition to the island, PYRT will launch a digital replica of it, so people from around the world can watch what is happening live and “come together with their friends to affect and even own their real world adventures”.
Mr McFarland then rolled away the whiteboard to reveal a “preview” of one of his personal favourite islands in the Bahamas.
The only problem is, the Bahamas will not tolerate Mr McFarland following the Fyre Fest fiasco.
“McFarland was the organiser of the Fyre Festival several years ago, a notorious charade for which McFarland was convicted and sent to prison in the USA,” the statement from the government of The Bahamas said according to Eyewitness News.
“The government of the Bahamas will not endorse or approve any event in the Bahamas associated with him. He is considered to be a fugitive, with several pending complaints made against him with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).”
However, Mr McFarland has encouraged “adventurous” locations from all over the world to hit him up.
This new project from the admitted fraudster is all starting with a treasure hunt, something he previously promoted on his social media.
‘X’ marks the spot
Mr McFarland acknowledged in October that he “effed up” and said he felt the time was right to start “making this up to everybody”.
“You might have guessed, but I’m working on something new,” he said in the TikTok video.
“This time, it’s a little crazier but a whole lot bigger than anything I’ve ever tried before. I promise, I’m going to tell you everything in November.
He then said that this time around, “everybody’s invited”.
In his following videos, he went on to say there were 99 bottles containing messages that had been hidden around the world.
To begin the treasure hunt, people need to find a bottle, which come with “clues and treasure”.
The first bottle was hidden in New York and it was found just 24 hours later. In a video, the message in the bottle was revealed and it said the person who found the bottle and a friend would be treated a trip to an island.
According to updates on Mr McFarland’s TikTok, two bottles have been found and a video showed people actually going to an island.
Pay to be in the PYRT crew
PYRT is also selling jackets for $US250 ($380.00), of which $50 goes to helping the people affected by Mr McFarland’s failed festival.
“$25 to people owed in the Bahamas and $25 to Restitution,” the PYRT crew website says.
The jacket will also buy people access to Mr McFarland and the other PYRT crew members and conversations with special guests plus week “experimental adventures”.
And once PYRT VID/R is set to go, members will be the first to gain entry.
‘Just a hustler’
Mr McFarland has admitted his actions were “horrible” and he did promise to dedicate the rest of his life to rebuilding trust and repaying the people he hurt.
However, people are naturally sceptical.
“How can anyone believe a word this guy says … speaks volumes that he didn’t even serve his full sentence and he’s already back at it,” one person said on a TikTok video where Mr McFarland gave an interview about what he had learned.
While some said he was “just a hustler”, few people remarked that it seemed as though he had genuinely changed and the time in prison had humbled him.
Only time will tell what happens with PYRT. It could be Fyre Festival 2.0 and if that’s the case, we might get to see it on film again.
According to Deadline, After the Fyre, a new documentary, will follow Mr McFarland through his next business venture.
