Convicted con man Billy McFarland announces return of Fyre Festival
Convicted con man Billy McFarland announced in a video posted to YouTube on Sunday that Fyre Festival II will return to the Caribbean at the end of 2024. Tickets are currently on sale for US$499 (J$77,OOO) to US$7,999 (1.2 million).
“This is a big day. It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here, and it really all started during a seven-month stint in solitary confinement,” the convicted con artist said in the video.
“I wrote out this 50-page plan of how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen.”
McFarland, 31, said he worked with the “best partners in the world” who have allowed “me to be me, while executing Fyre’s vision to the highest level.”
In deciding where the big comeback should take place, he allegedly spoke to people “as far away as the Middle East and South America” before ultimately deciding on the Caribbean — again.
“In the meantime, we’ll be doing pop-ups and events across the world. Guys, this is your chance to get in. This is everything I’ve been working towards. Let’s f – – king go,” he concluded.
Other than the proposed date of the event there are no other concrete details about the festival on the website. Specific dates, location and festival lineup have not been shared, and the only VIP perks described are vague, such as “FYRE Pop-Ups,” “The FYRE Crew Community” and “FYRE Experiences,” which include “FYRE Fights,” documentary and film screenings and weekend trips.
Back in 2017, Fyre Festival was promoted as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas, which was promoted by influencers and A-list models such as Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, and had at one point advertised Blink-182, Pusha T, Kaytranada, Major Lazer and Lil Yachty as performers.
The disastrous event went viral, and its downfall led to documentaries on both Hulu and Netflix: “Fyre Fraud” and “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” respectively.
In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud and got six years in prison — ultimately serving nearly four in federal prison for defrauding investors and committing wire fraud.
He was released in May 2022 and transferred to a halfway house for community confinement and has been on supervised release since.
McFarland cheated victims out of more than $26 million, and he previously defended his money-making plans to The Post, saying: “Everything right now is to build a foundation for the next seven to 10 years.”
“So many people ask me, ‘How are you going to pay $26 million dollars?’ And unfortunately, nobody’s offered $26 million dollars right now. The only way to ever get there is to build a solid foundation, get the best possible people around me and then do a really good job with the opportunities I do have.”
