Guess Who’s Back? — Billy McFarland Says Fyre Fest II Totally Happening

Photo Credit: Netflix’s Fyre Fest Documentary

Fyre Festival II: Electric Boogaloo is a go according to festival founder Billy McFarland, who served four years in prison for defrauding attendees.In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. In July 2018, he pleaded guilty to separate fraud charges to another ticket-selling scam and was sentenced in October 2018 to six years in prison. McFarland served about four years in prison before being released in May 2022. In August 2023 he announced he was planning Fyre Fest II—like a con man to a honeypot proven to work.

The first iteration of Fyre Fest fell short of its lofty promises of private bungalows on a Caribbean island once owned by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. So what’s the plan for Fyre Fest II? McFarland says this time he’s serious about the endeavor, don’t even worry about it.

“We have the chance to embrace this storm and really steer our ship into all the chaos that has happened, and if it’s done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry,” McFarland told NBC News. He says the first festival fell apart because he was a 24-year-old trying to plan an event with his friends. The now 32-year-old believes he’s now better equipped to throw a festival that is more than an unmitigated disaster for everyone involved.

McFarland hopes to attract around 3,000 people for Fyre Fest II—which is tentatively scheduled for April 25 – 28, 2025. Ticket prices will range from $1,400 at the low end up to $1.1 million for the most expensive festival package. That package is supposed to include luxury yachts, scuba diving, and island hopping tours.McFarland says he has hired a festival production company to “handle the stages and the bathrooms and all the stuff I clearly don’t know how to do.” He has declined to name the private island where the festival will take place, nor has he named the island itself. He also adds that there are currently no artists on board to perform—so it’s all sounding a bit like a con man’s pipe dream.

“It’s not about 10,000 people staring at a stage with their hands in the air,” he says in the NBC News interview. “It’s about getting on a plane with six people—two might be your friends, three might be people you met that morning—and going and exploring an island or a beach or a reef that you didn’t even know existed until you got in the airplane.”

For anyone who wants to do those things (and actually do them)—Caribbean luxury cruises typically include several island-hopping stops and will actually include all the amenities advertised. It’s unclear why McFarland believes anyone should trust him to deliver on his lofty promises. The first Fyre Festival promised luxury villas, gourmet food, and an extravagant music festival in the Bahamas. What attendees got were cloth disaster relief tents, barebones mattresses still needing assembly, and pimento cheese sandwiches in plastic foam boxes—with no lavish music festival in the background.

“I was totally guilty. I committed a crime. Obviously went to prison, and I deserved that prison sentence,” McFarland continues. “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.”

McFarland offered a drop of 100 early-bird tickets for Fyre Fest II at $499 a piece in August 2023. That limited-edition ticket drop sold out immediately, despite no lineup or specific locations listed. McFarland says he believes there’s a large number of people who are willing to part with their money to see if Fyre Fest II ends up being another disaster.“I think there’s a large number of people who want to go to Fyre II because they’re unsure of the outcome, and they would like to have a front-row seat no matter what happens,” McFarland says. “Thankfully we have good partners who will make sure they’re safe and obviously make sure things work out.”