Billy McFarland announces Fyre Festival II, says presale tickets are sold out
(KTLA) – Get ready for Fyre Festival II?
The ill-fated music festival from 2017 is coming back to the Caribbean, according to an announcement made Sunday by Billy McFarland, the convicted fraudster who spent close to four years in prison for lying to Fyre Festival investors, who lost over $26 million.
“It all started during my seventh-month stint in solitary confinement,” he explained in a video posted to social media. “I wrote out this 50-page plan of how I would take this overall interest in demand in Fyre and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen.”
McFarland said he spoke to “people as far away as the Middle East and South America” to host the festival but “ultimately decided” to return to the Caribbean.
The target date for the event is the end of 2024 but he said his team will do “pop-ups and events across the world” until then. The date on the event’s website reads Dec. 6, 2024, but the fine print warns that “FFII date is subject to change.”
So far, there is no lineup for the festival, but that didn’t seem to bother those who decided to purchase presale tickets.
McFarland announced early Monday morning that those tickets have sold out.
“Since 2016 FYRE has been the most talked about festival in the world,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We now saw this convert to one of the highest priced GA pre-sales in the industry. FYRE is about people from around the world coming together to pull off the impossible. This time we have incredible support. I’ll be doing what I love while working with the best logistical and infrastructure partners.”
“In addition, all ticket sale revenue will be held in escrow until the final date is announced. We look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build FYRE and FYRE Festival II into the island adventure of a lifetime.”
McFarland and rapper Ja Rule co-founded the 2017 festival, which was heavily promoted on social media by big names like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and Hailey Bieber.
It was promoted as the premiere music festival, like a Coachella of sorts but on an island “once owned by Pablo Escobar.”
However, the festival was anything but that. It ended up being a disaster with none of the accommodations promised.
Back in 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison for fraud after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud for his role in defrauding Fyre Festival investors and ticket vendors of about $26 million.
He was released early in May of 2022, according to Rolling Stone. He was held under house arrest until September 2022.
