Despite the fact that the first one ended with universal mockery and outrage, a monsoon of lawsuits, and its progenitor getting thrown in prison, it would appear that another Fyre Festival is happening. Billy McFarland, the aforementioned creator of the world’s worst “music festival,” recently told the Wall Street Journal that he’s ready for another go-round.
In a lengthy profile, McFarland said that the festival is absolutely happening again. In fact, he claims some people have already bought tickets. As early as last year, the disgraced “event organizer” was talking about how he wanted to stage a sequel to his 2017 debacle, and tickets for the new fest went on sale last summer. Now it would appear McFarland is beginning to more aggressively promote the event.
Promisingly, while McFarland says Fest II is “definitely” happening, he hasn’t been able to explain how, when, where, or who will be there. I guess that’s ultimately a step up from the last time, when he promised ticket-buyers the opportunity to hobnob with celebrities and models on a paradisiacal beach, only to deliver them into a situation that was slightly elevated above a refugee camp.
If you’ll recall, in 2017, McFarland told event-goers that they would be headed to an exclusive beach-side resort in the Bahamas, where they’d be able to party their asses off and enjoy luxurious catered food and service. When they arrived, carted to the scene by cramped buses, they found an event space that was a tattered mess and were served plain cheese sandwiches in styrofoam containers. Ticket-holders eventually revolted and the event descended into Thunderdome-style chaos. Then everybody sued McFarland. He was eventually sentenced to six years in prison for having defrauded Fyre investors of some $26 million.
The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/I8d0UlSNbd
— Tr3vor (@tr3vorx) April 28, 2017
Now, for whatever reason, McFarland wants to do it all again, although he won’t reveal much about his plans. “I don’t want the negativity that I bring to kill something before it’s ready,” he told the Journal when asked about investors. “I think once they’re ready to reveal themselves and come out with marketing or dates or location, all the key information, they’re willing to take that heat. I just don’t want to prematurely throw something out there.”
It sounds like McFarland won’t really be in charge of planning this Fyre Fest—a decision I think we can all agree is a good one. He told the Journal that, instead of him being in charge, a production company that has purchased a 51 percent stake in Fyre Media (the festival’s parent company) will take care of the festival’s finances and operations, while a talent agency and festival operator assist. McFarland himself will work on “marketing and promotional events.” In other words, having realized that he’s no good at management, McFarland is basically acting as the promoter for an event that will be run by other people.
It’s hard to see how a Fyre Fest II could be any worse than the first one, although you never know. You can sort of imagine a scenario in which the organizers intentionally stage a bad event and event-goers go just to revel in the expected debauchery of it all. You can also sort of imagine a scenario in which, having learned their lessons from the last one, organizers put on a very normal event and event-goers show up and find themselves bored. Which is preferable? Honestly, I’m not sure. Probably best to just avoid it entirely.
