In 2017 a celebrity party to end all parties was to take place in the Bahamas on a secluded private island. This weekend music festival was to take place over a weekend in April and was advertised to include “400 entertainers including comedians, models, actors, actresses and influencers”, as well as top musical acts. The FYRE Festival was to also include continuous music by top bands and musicians. The festival was a collaboration between Rapper Ja Rule and a man named Billy McFarland. Although 95% of tickets were sold within 48 hours and the festival was sold out completely, somehow it became an epic fail that left Billy McFarland serving time in federal prison.
The event was to provide a party for 10,000 people. Most of the festival packages included flights to Miami and then private planes to the Bahamas. The accommodations were to be luxury villas for most of the attendees. Luxury yachts were included in some of the packages. Fantastic food options were promised along with bartenders ready to make tropical drinks. Commercials for this event were all shot on the location of a private island and included top supermodels frolicking in the surf with cocktails. Unfortunately, the commercial shoot was the only thing that remotely resembled what was advertised to the festival goers.
After the event was completely sold out the trouble soon began. The private island included in the commercial for the festival was too small for 10,000 people. Additionally, there was absolutely no infrastructure on the island. No plumbing, no electricity, no wi-fi and no roads existed there. Nor were there any villas to house the attendees. None of this bothered Billy McFarland who would fire experts when they told him the facts of their assessments. The clock was ticking, they only had months to bring this all together.
The background story of this so-called “festival” and the fraudulent Billy McFarland made for a great documentary. Check it out on Netflix!
(Reviewed by Justine)