Reboot of Disaster-Hit Fyre Festival Postponed, US Media Reports

The scheduled dates and location of Fyre Festival 2 have been thrown into doubt, according to US media reports.

The reboot of the 2017 Fyre Festival – which made international headlines, sparked a hit Netflix documentary and resulted in organiser Billy McFarland going to jail for fraud – was due to take place in Mexico from 30 May to 2 June.

McFarland’s second attempt to stage the event was announced not long after he was released from prison, with ticket prices ranging from $1,400 (£1,058) to $1.1m (£831,534).

But now the organisers are reportedly looking for a new location for the festival, with the scheduled dates uncertain.

A message to ticket holders on Wednesday said the event had been postponed and a new date would be announced, ABC News reported. The festival’s website also briefly said the event was postponed, according to NBC News.

The organisers said in a further update reported by NBC and the New York Times that Fyre 2 was “still on”.

“We are vetting new locations and will announce our host destination soon. Our priorities remain unchanged: delivering an unforgettable, safe, and transparent experience,” the update said.

McFarland told NBC the date is dependent on location.

BBC News has reached out to Fyre Festival 2 organisers for comment.

The uncertainty follows two local governments in Mexico saying they had no planning records for the festival that organisers had said would take place in their areas.

In February, organisers announced the festival’s location as Isla Mujeres, an island off Cancún.

However, the local city council posted on Facebook that “no person or company has requested permits from this office or any other Municipal Government department for said event”.

The event was re-announced with a new location in Playa del Carmen. Local officials there said on X that “no event with this name has reached our city”.

“Following a responsible review of the situation, it confirms that there is no registration, planning or conditions indicating the realisation of the event in the municipality,” a translation of the statement read.

McFarland and Fyre Festival 2 posted documents on Instagram that they said showed approval for the event. One document indicated permission for 250 people at a venue. McFarland had said 1,800 tickets were for sale.

To many, the latest developments will come as little surprise.

The original Fyre was promoted by supermodels and celebrities as an exclusive getaway for the ultra-rich, and the location was hyped as a private island once owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar.

But festival-goers arrived in the Bahamas to find all the talent cancelled, bare mattresses to sleep on in storm-ravaged tents and cheese sandwiches in takeaway containers to eat.

McFarland was sentenced in 2018 to six years in jail for wire fraud, and was also ordered to return $29m to investors.

He was freed in 2022 under an early release programme but remains on probation until August.

Last year, McFarland announced the reboot, saying “Fyre 2 has to work”.

He claimed he had spent a year planning it, and had already sold 100 tickets at an “early bird” rate of $499. It is unclear how many tickets have been sold to date.

Andy King, an investor in the first Fyre Festival, issued a warning to anyone interested in going to its planned reboot

No line-up for the festival has been announced.

Last year, Andy King, an investor in the first Fyre Festival, issued a warning to anyone interested in going to its planned reboot: “Proceed with caution.”

Mr King, who lost $1m in the original debacle, told the BBC that McFarland was “known for the biggest failure in pop culture and wants to flip the script. But I’m not sure he’s going about it the right way.”

(BBC)