Infamous Promoter Billy McFarland Bringing Back Ill-Fated Fyre Festival In 2025

Infamous festival promoter Billy McFarland, who spent four years in federal prison for fraud related to the ill-fated 2017 Fyre Festival, plans to host another event in 2025. McFarland told NBC News he intends to host Fyre Festival II at an undisclosed private island off the coast of Mexico in April 2025.

The first Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music festival planned for April 2017 in the Bahamas. Organized by McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, it was promoted as an exclusive event with high-end accommodations and performances by major artists. When festivalgoers arrived, the underprepared site severely lacked adequate food, water, lodging and security, with the majority of the lavish amenities missing and performances canceled. Particularly unimpressive cheese sandwiches became iconic representations of the underwhelming disaster of an event.

The festival was ultimately scrapped, leading to multiple lawsuits, with McFarland eventually being sentenced to six years in prison for wire fraud. He ultimately served four years of the term and was released in 2022.

“I was totally guilty. I committed a crime. Obviously went to prison, and I deserved that prison sentence,” McFarland told NBC about the 2017 Fyre Fest fiasco. “But it wasn’t until the day after the festival was canceled and I had one of my early investors call me and basically say, ‘We need to do this, this and this, or else you’re going to be in the front page of The Wall Street Journal in handcuffs.’”

Fyre Fest II is scheduled for April 25 – 28, 2025. According to McFarland, capacity for the second edition will be capped at 3,000 attendees with tickets ranging in price from $1,400 to packages totaling $1.1 million, which McFarland told NBC would include, “luxury yachts, scuba diving and island hopping.”

The report also stated that McFarland hired an outside production company to handle Fyre Festival II, though he did not disclose the company he engaged. McFarland also revealed to NBC that no artists have been booked yet for Fyre Fest II.

Fyre Fest II was initially announced in August 2023 with little additional details shared at the time. An allotment of 100 presale tickets priced at $499 sold out shortly after being made available following the announcement. Fyre Festival II tickets are currently accessible by application only.