By Larisha Paul
Billy McFarland has realized that he might be the problem with Fyre Festival. The convicted fraudster who founded the event is looking for someone to buy it from him after having to postpone its planned comeback, Fyre Festival II, twice.
“For Fyre Festival 2 to succeed, it’s clear that I need to step back and allow a new team to move forward independently, bringing the vision to life on this incredible island,” McFarland shared in a statement. “We will pick the new group based on their ability to execute the vision of Fyre in a transparent, grand, and expeditious manner. The next chapter of Fyre will be bigger, better, and built to last without me at the helm.”
The Fyre Festival sale will include its trademarks, IP, digital assets, media reach, and cultural capital, according to the statement. McFarland has been reportedly planning the festival’s return for the past two years. In 2023, 100 presale tickets priced at $499 sold out when barely anything was known about the return. The founder had been released from prison one year prior after pleading guilty to fraud charges related to the disastrous first Fyre Festival. He served just under four years. He still sees the festival as a success.
“Since 2017, FYRE has dominated headlines, documentaries, and conversations as one of the world’s most talked-about music festivals. We knew that Fyre was big, but we didn’t realize just how massive the wave would become. That wave has brought us here: to a point where we know it’s time to call for assistance,” McFarland said. “This brand is bigger than any one person and bigger than what I’m able to lead on my own. It’s a movement. And it deserves a team with the scale, experience, and infrastructure to realize its potential.”
General ticket sales for Fyre Festival II launched earlier this year, with price points ranging from $1,400 to $1.1 million. It was originally scheduled to take place May 30 to June 2 on Isla Mujeres in Mexico, then relocated to Playa del Carmen after local officials claimed to not have known anything about these plans. That also didn’t work. “I can’t risk a repeat of what happened in Playa Del Carmen, where support quickly turned into public distancing once media attention intensified,” McFarland said.
Last week, Fyre Festival II was postponed with no new date set. Ticket buyers have been told they will receive refunds and have the option to repurchase in the future “if it works for your schedule.”
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