The stories coming out around this weekend’s first ever Fyre Festival in the Bahamas are insane.
What happened at Fyre Fest?
First things first, “Fyre festival was set up by Fyre Media, a startup run by Ja Rule and the US tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland.” This should have been a quick red flag for most but this festival was clearly working to cater to a higher-end crowd.
“In December, it was promoted by a slew of models on Instagram, showcasing what Fyre would have to offer. All the social media buzz from these ‘influencers’ and Instagram models meant general admission tickets sold out before the music lineup was released.” (via The Guardian)
Some people started to catch wind that this may not go off as planned, like Page Six:
A source says that attendees have not yet seen pictures of their “villas” on the fest’s private Bahamian island. Another source said, “It feels like they have good intentions, but are out of their league … Several companies bailed on working with them because they were very disorganized. They don’t return calls.”
Even QZ had a look at this one:
While several of the packages include flights to the Bahamas from Florida, the bare-bones general admission ticket doesn’t include travel, making a trip to Fyre significantly more expensive than any other music festival in existence.
That does not sound promising.
I know. And when the first of the festival goers started to arrive, this is the type of condition they saw the festival grounds in…
Stuck at #fyrefestival trying to leave for the last 8 hours. barley any food or water or security or electricity pic.twitter.com/jHPMnJw5gx
— Lamaan (@LamaanElGallal) April 28, 2017
Wow.
Yeah, and this is how the food looked…
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
Then blink-182 cancelled…
Bands do not cancel unless things are really, really bad. Usually they’re contractually obligated or they don’t get that payday.
— blink-182 (@blink182) April 27, 2017
Then the internet got a hold of it…
The tweets started flowing like fine wine.
The #fyrefestival was the biggest, most successful festival, with the best headliners in the history of mankind; PERIOD. pic.twitter.com/XuvlOxJmT4
— MERKJONES 🇵🇸 (@MERKJONES) April 28, 2017
Our hearts go out to those victims of the #fyrefestival massacre pic.twitter.com/yAg5rTGL8E
— DQ (@DQ_Doo1) April 28, 2017
#fyrefestival So to recap? Some Instagram kids just paid $450 & 12k to be stranded in a tropical tent city Cuz some models told them to
— Jaziel Maldonado (@jazielmaldonado) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/nolasox/status/857999258871623682
#fyrefestival right now pic.twitter.com/cNOH2XL1iB
— ryan (@omgitsryguy) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/meearf/status/857976928434872321
— Hudson Mohawke (@HudMo) April 28, 2017
#FyreFestival update, photos from the ground! pic.twitter.com/Z7fn9cKaz3
— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 27, 2017
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTb_ZsHjpsR/
this is my favorite interaction i've ever seen #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/ihEO1HccAe
— patrick (@patricksalright) April 28, 2017
It started to come clear this wasn’t a joke.
At this point, even the tourism bureau in the Bahamas has distanced themselves from this about as far as they could…
Bahamas official statement on Fyre Festival #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/NQo8AmXZlQ
— The Bahamas (@VisitTheBahamas) April 28, 2017
The whole thing ended in some serious lawsuits.
#FyreFestival Lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/J4I71AMDeS
— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 28, 2017
Ja Rule has released a statement on Twitter…
— Ja Rule (@jarule) April 28, 2017
That hasn’t stopped the #memepocalypse…
Live shot from #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/ftTUeJW9Ic
— South Park (@SouthPark) April 28, 2017
The creator of the festival actually gave an interview to Rolling Stone…check that out here.
Music fans have been posting distress signals from the Bahamas via social media for the past 24 hours, with some suggesting they’re unable to leave the island. Festival promoters have so far issued only brief statements, but in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Billy McFarland, the 25-year-old Fyre Fest co-organizer with rapper Ja Rule, gives his regrets, promises refunds and hopes to return for a make-up festival next year.
MAKE-UP FESTIVAL?!??! Holy wow this guy is delusional.
Where it ended up?
“Today is definitely the toughest day of my life. I’d love the opportunity to go through and tell my story of how we got here and how I see it now and where it’s going.” – Billy McFarland
As of Monday following the festival’s launch, demise and public shredfest that was #FyreFestival, NOW they’re really saying they need a chance to recoup and try again next year to save face. Look at this screen capture of how they’re asking people to submit requests for refunds:
Let’s hope a Fyre Festival never gives it another fighting chance because wow they done screwed up big.
