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| Fyre Festival | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | April 28–30, May 5–7, 2017 |
| Location(s) | Exuma, The Bahamas |
| Years active | 2017 |
| Founders | |
| Attendance | ~5,000 |
Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music festival organized by American businessman Billy McFarland and American rapper Ja Rule. It was originally created to promote the company's Fyre app for booking music talent. The festival was scheduled to take place on April 28–30 and May 5–7, 2017, on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.[2]
The event was promoted on Instagram by social media influencers, actors, reality TV stars and models including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, and Emily Ratajkowski, many of whom did not initially disclose they had been paid to do so.[1] During the Fyre Festival's inaugural weekend, the event experienced problems related to security, food, accommodation, medical services, and artist relations, resulting in the festival being indefinitely postponed and eventually cancelled. Instead of the gourmet meals and luxury villas for which festival attendees had paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars, they received packaged sandwiches and were lodged in poorly furnished tents.[3]
In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud to defraud investors and ticket holders, and a second count to defraud a ticket vendor (while out on bail).[4] In October 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to forfeit US$26 million.[4] At least eight lawsuits were initiated against the organizers for defrauding ticket buyers, with several seeking class action status and one seeking more than $100 million in damages, and a judgment for US$2 million.[5]
Two documentaries about the events of the festival were released in 2019: Hulu's Fyre Fraud,[6] and Netflix's Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.[7][8]
In February 2025, it was reported that McFarland was selling tickets for "Fyre 2", to run from May 30 to June 2, 2025.[9]
- ^ a b Bluestone, Gabrielle (April 29, 2017). "Fyre Festival's 25-year-old organizer: 'This is the worst day of my life'". Vice. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
- ^ Post, The Jakarta. "The economics behind Fyre Festival – the greatest party that never happened - Entertainment". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nyt20170428was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Where are Fyre Festival's Billy McFarland and Ja Rule now?". Evening Standard. April 29, 2019. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ "Fyre Festival: Ticket-holders to receive money from $2m class action settlement". April 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ "Hulu Debuts Fyre Festival Doc Days Before Rival Netflix Project". The Hollywood Reporter. January 14, 2019. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ^ Locklear, Mallory (January 10, 2019). "Netflix's 'Fyre' shows how fraud built and doomed Fyre Festival". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019.
- ^ Cohn, Warren H. (February 25, 2019). "How Social Media Led To The Rise And Fall Of The Fyre Festival". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ "Fyre Festival founder says things will be different as tickets for sequel go on sale". NBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2025.