Billy McFarland has revealed the price for tickets to Fyre Festival II. In a video shared on Instagram, Monday, the business mogul announced that attendance for the event will cost between $499 for the first 100 tickets and $7,999 for the final presale.
“Fyre Festival II tickets are officially on sale,” McFarland announced in a video on Instagram, Monday. “It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here, and it really all started during a seventh-month stint in solitary confinement. 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 bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen.”
MONTAUK, NY – JULY 26: Aisha Atkins, Ja Rule and Billy McFarland attend Magnises Summer Bash at Gurney’s Inn on July 26, 2014 in Montauk, NY. (Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
McFarland says that the second Fyre Festival will be returning to the Caribbean, although he hasn’t confirmed an exact location. “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,” he said. Additionally, McFarland has yet to set a date for the event. “FF II is targeted for the end of 2024 in the Caribbean.* The FYRE Festival Pre-Sale FYRE Pass gets you 1 ticket to FYRE Festival II, as well as immediate VIP access to FYRE Events, Experiences, and Community,” the website states. Check out McFarland’s announcement below.
McFarland was originally sentenced to six years in prison in October 2018 for defrauding investing in the first Fyre Festival. He got out early from prison and moved to a halfway house in New York City in 2022. Be on the lookout for further updates on the second Fyre Festival on HotNewHipHop.
Twitter exploded when the infamous Billy McFarland announced Fyre Festival 2. McFarland recently tweeted he is working on a second iteration of the first disastrous event. The failed business mogul was at the center of a scandal in 2017. He promised a luxury music festival on Pablo Escobar’s rumored former private island in the Bahamas but had to relocate to Great Exuma island within weeks of the festival.
It was slated for the weekends of April 28-30 and May 5-7 of that year. Unfortunately, it was a notorious disaster due to many issues. McFarland announced the sequel to the catastrophe—less in the style of a teaser and more in the form of an outright guarantee. Can he really pull it off with such a massive failure under his belt?
Fyre Fest Controversy
McFarland, rapper Ja Rule, and promoters advertised Fyre Festival as a luxurious music event on Norman’s Cay in The Bahamas. Prominent social media influencers like Kendall Jenner and supermodels Hailey Baldwin and Bella Hadid endorsed the festival. Organizers promised high-end accommodations, extravagant meals, and performances by popular artists like Blink-182 and Migos. Promoters advertised it as an “immersive music festival.” However, upon arrival, chaos met excited festival-goers, and they quickly realized their promised music fantasy was closer to a tragedy.
How Bad Was It?
Music fans eagerly paid upwards of $1,595 for tickets to Fyre Fest. However, when they arrived on the island, attendees quickly discovered that accommodations were far from what the promoters pledged. Instead of the deluxe large private cabanas on the beach for housing, guests slept in dome-shaped flimsy half-built tents that resembled FEMA shelters.
Unfortunately, the sleeping arrangements were the least of the worries for the festival goers. All the drinking water did not clear customs, so hydration was in very short supply. There was a minimal supply of toilets, which were unusable after a few hours. Once the disaster hit social media, most headlining bands dropped out or confirmed they had never finalized agreements to perform. The lack of necessities and security caused overwhelming chaos and confusion. Additionally, many guests became trapped on the island as airlines canceled several flights back to the States.
McFarland’s Incarceration
April was stronger for restitution. I paid $8,584.53 this month, bringing the totals since my 8/30 release to:
-Restitution – $38,482 -Bahamas – $2,273
I will be posting monthly updates until everyone is paid.
After the unbelievable ghastly calamity, co-founder Billy McFarland faced a myriad of lawsuits. The charges ranged from defrauding investors, overstating financial information, and wire fraud. On October 11, 2018, the judge sentenced him to six years in prison. He only ended up serving four years.
While incarcerated, McFarland apologized for his actions and expressed his regrets. However, he continued profiting from the debacle with his podcast Dumpster Fyre. Co-founder Ja Rule did not receive any charges but faced numerous lawsuits. The courts released McFarland from prison in 2022 and fined him $26 million. He vowed to find a way to repay the investors he owed.
Despite the disastrous outcome of the original festival in 2017, Billy McFarland has announced plans for a sequel event. In a recent tweet posted on Sunday, April 9, McFarland declared, “Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited.” Many Twitter users expressed criticism, disbelief, and outrage at the idea. One user even responded, “Tell me why you shouldn’t be in jail.” McFarland tweeted back, “It’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. People aren’t getting paid back if I sit on the couch and watch tv. and because I served my time.”
McFarland also reportedly contacted 50 Cent via Twitter the first week of April. He tweeted, “Hey @50cent wanna chat?” hoping to secure him as a headliner. The response from 50 Cent remains unknown. Details are scant past that, with a timeline for the festival and whether or not any musical guests are interested in attaching their names to it currently unclear.
Disputes With The Bahamas
It’s worth noting that this announcement comes on the heels of another McFarland apology. He apologized for a recent treasure-hunting scheme in the Bahamas named PYRT. McFarland stated, “I was completely wrong, and I wholly regret my actions.” Given the disastrous outcome of the first Fyre Festival, many are skeptical about the success of this event. Some wonder if Billy Mcfarland has learned his lesson from the first Fyre Festival thrashing. Additionally, there are concerns about whether Mcfarland will prioritize the safety and comfort of attendees over profit. Only time will tell if his promises will materialize into a successful event or if it will become another cautionary tale for event organizers.
There’s a fun rabbit hole to be had with scam festivals. The first popular iteration of being sold a dream and receiving a disappointment was the infamous 2014 Tumblr convention, DashCon. However, nothing really blew up as much as Fyre Fest, the 2017 Caribbean island music festival so fraudulent that it was the focus of not one, but two separate documentaries.
Billy McFarland, the frat bro mind behind Fyre Fest, received a six-year prison sentence in 2019 after pleading guilty to a boatload of fraud charges. He was released in early 2022 and this year, went on a media apology tour. But now it looks like Billy’s back because, on April 9, he announced Fyre Fest II.
So before we get to whether Ja Rule is involved again, we have to ask a question. Is Billy McFarland throwing another Fyre Festival to make the money to pay back the people he owes from the first Fyre Festival? As part of his court sentence, McFarland was ordered to pay back $26 million in fraudulent investments he accepted for Fyre Fest I. On April 12, he even tweeted that he is holding an NYC cookout with Andy King and “all proceeds go to people who are owed”. So there’s that. But then the question has to be asked – why? The first Fyre Fest wasn’t a festival gone wrong, like DashCon. It was literally a scam. There was no Fyre Fest to sequel. It was basically a prototype of Squid Game. And yet, Billy is out here once again.
But now for the bit you’re actually here for. Is Ja Rule involved again? As you may remember, Ja Rule was a major player, and purported headline act, for Fyre Fest I. However Ja was eventually dropped from the $100 million lawsuit against McFarland and other Fyre Fest defendants. So is he back? No. According to a report from PEOPLE, Ja was very clear about Fyre Fest II. “I don’t know nothing about it. I ain’t in it!” Ja said. But there you have it, Fyre Fest II is coming to an island paradise near you, and Ja Rule is steering well clear this time.
Fyre Festival II is finally happening.