Fyre Fest Founder Offers New Details

UPDATE Sep 9, 2024 9:24 AM CDT

Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland is spilling new details on his plans for a second round of the ill-fated event, telling NBC News that he hopes to gather about 3,000 people on a private island in the Caribbean, off the coast of Mexico, from April 25 to April 28. Today notes that McFarland also promises "an incredible production company who's handling everything from soup to nuts" for the event, tickets for which will run from $1,400 to $1.1 million for a high-end package that includes island hopping, luxury yachts, and more. No artists have yet been booked. "We have the chance to embrace this storm and really steer our ship into all the chaos that has happened, and if it's done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry," McFarland says.

Sep 7, 2024 10:00 AM CDT

The Wall Street Journal catches up with Billy McFarland, the 32-year-old who spent time in prison for fraud over his infamous Fyre Festival fiasco of 2017—in which he promised the moon as part of a luxury music event but delivered cold cheese sandwiches, gross bathrooms, and no big names. The hook of the story is that McFarland is a year into planning Fyre Festival II, though details—including when and where it might happen, who might perform, etc.—remain scant. He swears he has a legit production company on board, though he's not naming it. At this point, as Ashley Wong writes, "the term 'Fyre Fest' has become synonymous with scams and disasters," but McFarland insists this time it's going to work because the stakes are so high. At least for him:

• "It's going to be very hard to get other opportunities, whether that's a marketing job, a podcast appearance, a TV show, or a relationship," McFarland says, when speaking of another festival bust. "People are going to be hard-pressed to trust me if I put it all on the line and fail at it twice."

Some believers already have bought $550 VIP tickets for the festival, notes the story, which explores McFarland's various projects (including his marketing agency PYRT) and his promises to repay the millions he owes investors from the first festival. Read it in full here. (More Fyre Festival stories.)