Tickets for Fyre Festival 2 have gone on sale, despite Mexican officials denying they have any knowledge of the event and saying no permits have been issued.
The festival’s official website claims the event “will be held at Playa FYRE on Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico.”
However, published coordinates on the same site point to a location in the sea some distance off the coast of Isla Mujeres.
Tickets are on sale in various categories, with general access tickets starting at $1,400 each and various levels of VIP access rising to $25,000 per ticket.
The original Fyre Festival, in The Bahamas in 2017, was advertised as the “cultural experience of the decade” and promised attendees the chance to rub shoulders with celebrities while staying in luxury accommodations.
However, upon arrival, concertgoers — who had paid between $1,000 and $12,000 to attend — were met with “total disorganization and chaos,” court filings described.
Instead of luxury accommodation, there were disaster relief tents and sodden mattresses, cheese sandwiches served in Styrofoam containers and no big headliners. The ill-fated event was subsequently the subject of two documentaries.
Festival organizer Billy McFarland, 33, served a four-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges of wire fraud related to the disastrous 2017 event.
He has called Fyre Festival 2 his chance to “take over the festival industry.”
“FYRE 2 is real. My dream is finally becoming a reality,” he told Today in a recent interview. “FYRE 2 really isn’t about the past, and it’s not really about me. It’s about taking the vision, which is strong.”
However, the local government of Isla Mujeres released a statement on Wednesday last week saying, “No person or company has requested permits from this office or any other municipal government department for said event.”
“We have no knowledge of this event, nor contact with any person or company about it,” Edgar Gasca, from the tourism directorate of Isla Mujeres, told The Guardian.
“For us, this is an event that does not exist.”
He added: “This festival is not going to happen. There are red flags all over the place.”
The Independent has approached the producers of Fyre Festival 2 for a response.
While a line-up of artists performing at Fyre Festival 2 has yet to be announced, McFarland told Today: “We’re going to have artists across electronic, hip hop, pop and rock. However, it’s not just music. We might have a professional skateboarder do a demonstration. We might have an MMA champion teach you techniques in the morning.”
Asked if he thought A-list performers would sign on, he said: “I really hope so, and I expect so from our conversations.”
