It’s probably the most unsurprising news of this week. You will be astonished to hear that Fyre II, the rebooted version of the notorious festival that was the subject of a 2019 Netflix documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, has been postponed indefinitely.
Apparently an email went out to ticket holders last night saying that the event will be “postponed and a new date will be announced.” Ticket-holders will apparently be issued refunds “once the new date is announced, at that time, you can repurchase if it works for your schedule,” the email notes.
Fyre II was doomed from the start. Billy McFarland, the fraudster at the centre of the original Fyre debacle, had announced it was returning back in 2023 but had struggled to find a location for the event. In late February this year he announced it was happening at Islas De Mujeres, off the Mexican coast, but local officials denied that they had any knowledge of the festival.
Then, in a bid to show everything was still on track, McFarland shared official communication with the Mexican authorities on Instagram. It was quickly pointed out that the documents permitted a maximum of 250 guests with music limited to just 12 hours across the weekend and a noise limit of 100 decibels. Fyre was extinguished before it even started.
It also seems McFarland was struggling to book acts for the event. Indeed up to the end of March there was only one confirmed act: Antonio Brown, a former American footballer who has recently turned his hand to rapping.
McFarland had promised “boundary-pushing excursions by day” and “intimate beach-side performances at night” but it seems no talent other than Brown was willing to sign on the dotted line for Fyre.
Despite all this, up until last week tickets were still on sale for the festival. Prices ranged from $1,400 for general admission up to a ‘Prometheus’ package that went for $1.1million. It’s not known how many tickets had been sold.
As for McFarland, perhaps it’s time for a career change? Maybe something that doesn’t involve dubious-sounding 'luxury' festivals.
