Music festivals have drawn as much attention for their controversial moments as they have their star attendees. One of today’s most renowned music festivals is Coachella, which takes place annually in the heart of the California Desert. The event draws massive crowds every year and features some of the world’s biggest music acts. However, not long after the event’s official debut in 1999, another festival was on its way to attracting just as much attention from fans and stars alike. Fyre Festival was a highly anticipated music event that ultimately failed to materialize. Its backstory is just as fascinating as the event was scheduled to be. With the event almost returning earlier this year, many fans, including this publication, are wondering if Fyre Festival 2 should happen!
Fyre Festival Promised Paradise—And Delivered Chaos
In 2017, a new music festival was being marketed to affluent music fans and concertgoers worldwide. The event was Fyre Festival. It was the brainchild of American business executive Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. Destined initially to promote a music booking talent app titled Fyre, it was promised to be the music festival of the century. To attract customers, the event was promoted by several of Hollywood’s hottest young stars on social media, including models Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin. The festival was scheduled to be held on a deserted island in the Bahamas, with tickets ranging from $500 to upwards of thousands for VIP packages, including five-star accommodations and amenities. From the outset, the festival was a disaster, with organizers promoting the event just five months before it was scheduled to take place over two weeks in April and May 2017. Other oversights added to the festival’s eventual demise. For example, when some festival-goers were stranded at the airport due to various issues while traveling to and from the festival. For those who were able to attend, they found substandard and shabby accommodations awaited them, such as construction-filled sites and housing with rain-soaked mattresses on the floor. If that weren’t enough, there was also a severe lack of toilets and fresh water provided for guests. In addition, many of the hired chefs absconded from their posts due to a lack of pay, and music-goers had to dine on basic foods such as cheese sandwiches and salads.
Add to that the number of employees who were hired and fired before the event, which led to Fyre Festival being canceled indefinitely. As a result of the poorly planned event, which saw many businesses invest a substantial amount of money, McFarland was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in jail, according to the BBC. The doomed festival was the subject of several documentaries, including its most famous one, available on Netflix, titled Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, which chronicles the lead-up to the canceled event. In a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ja Rule, who managed to avoid charges, spoke about his involvement with the event. “It was unfortunate that what we did, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. Obviously, there were a lot of mistakes made in that situation. But listen, man, we live and we learn and we move on…”
Related
Dave Grohl’s Silence Speaks Volumes Amid Foo Fighters Drummer Controversy
With news of Dave Grohl’s infidelity and the alleged firing of their replacement drummer, could this be the end of the band?
Fyre Festival 2 Was Canceled—But Could It Actually Come Back?
Earlier this year, Fyre Festival 2 was scheduled to make its debut in May, nearly 8 years after the last one ended in disaster. The event was promoted on social media and was scheduled to take place this time in the Caribbean. However, despite McFarland writing on the official website that the company had corrected past mistakes in order to provide fans with a better concert experience, just a few weeks later, in April, McFarland announced that the event was canceled and that he was selling the Fyre brand company and shopping it to different investors. It was rumored that the event was canceled due to low ticket sales and McFarland’s involvement with the event.
Despite Fyre Festival 2 falling apart before it even began, if the organization were to be led by another CEO outside of McFarlane, it could have the potential to rival Coachella. It’s a sentiment some fans are expressing on social media, with one person writing on Reddit, “No one is surprised Fyre Festival 2 isn’t going to happen due to McFarlane’s involvement, but I would be lying if I said another major music event is not needed.”