Everything we know about the possible return of the infamous Fyre Festival

To some, this may be exciting news. To others, this may be a threat. In any case, Billy McFarland has announced that a Fyre Fest 2 is reportedly in the works.

Sitting at just under 2,000 likes as of publication, the hilarious announcement clearly hasn’t gotten the fanfare McFarland was hoping for. In any case, the renowned con artist has announced that his disastrous rich person torture chamber is confirmed for another go.

“Fyre Festival II is finally happening,” he tweeted. “Tell me why you should be invited.”

Back in 2017, McFarland sold over 5,000 tickets to what he claimed would be a two-weekend luxury music festival on a private beach on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas. McFarland, along with rapper and co-founder Ja Rule, recruited influencers like Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Hailey Bieber to promote the event.

Instead of luxury villas, attendees were provided hurricane tents. Celebrity chef-made meals were replaced with cheese sandwiches, luggage was lost, there was a lack of medical attention, and security was aggressive. All in all, the event did not end up taking place, with everyone returning to Miami after a period of being stranded on the island due to flights being barred in and out of the Bahamas.

Despite there being no details as of yet regarding McFarland’s plans for a sequel, he did reveal a similarly luxurious venture last year. In November, McFarland announced his new venture, PYRT, In a video posted to his TikTok account. He explained to his followers that the venture is “not a festival, it’s not an event, and it’s definitely not a metaverse.”

He described the project as a remote island bash where artists, entrepreneurs, influencers, and members of the public come together using virtual reality technology. It would be held in the Bahamas or somewhere similar, though the Bahamian government said it’s not interested in any of McFarland’s future endeavours.

“The Government of The Bahamas will not endorse or approve any event in The Bahamas associated with him.” Deputy Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Chester Cooper, wrote in a statement in November. 

McFarland swindled millions from investors when he was pitching Fyre Fest, and the fraudulent disaster was amplified so loud that both Netflix and Hulu made documentaries about its shortcomings. He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison back in 2018, but was released early in March 2022. Additionally, he was instructed to return $26 million to his investors.

Last year, in his first interview since being released from prison, McFarland admitted that he was “wrong” to go ahead with the Fyre Festival. “I was wrong,” McFarland said during an appearance on Good Morning America. “I messed up. I was so driven by this desperate desire to prove people right. I had these early investors, backers, employees, and I think I was just so insecure that I thought the only way to prove myself to them was to succeed and that led me down this terrible path of bad decisions.”

“I need to apologise, and that is the first and last thing that needs to be done. I let people down,” he said. “I should have listened. There is no excuse.”

Although following his recent announcement, it seems McFarland is, unsurprisingly, going back on his word.