Style | A Fyre Festival Sequel? What Could Go Wrong?
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
A Fyre Festival Sequel? What Could Go Wrong?
Eight years — and one prison sentence — later, Billy McFarland is back with another attempt at the event.
Organizers say Fyre Festival 2 will be held this spring on Isla Mujeres, an island off the coast of Mexico. Credit… Amanda Lee Myers/Associated Press Feb. 25, 2025
Luxury accommodations at a tropical resort. World-class hospitality. “Boundary-pushing” excursions by day. Beachside musical performances by night. And exorbitant ticket prices to boot.
All of that might sound familiar to anyone who followed the well-chronicled saga of the Fyre Festival, an ill-fated musical carnival that, in 2017, was such a spectacular failure that it spawned dueling documentaries on Netflix and Hulu. Billy McFarland, the festival’s organizer, wound up going to prison for nearly four years after he entered a guilty plea to charges that included wire fraud.
But Mr. McFarland, 33, a self-described tech entrepreneur, is back — and he is trying the whole thing over again.
Mr. McFarland announced this week that Fyre Festival 2, replete with all the trappings listed above, is scheduled for May 30 to June 2 on Isla Mujeres, a Mexican island and vacation destination a few miles off the coast from Cancun. More specifically, the event will be staged at “Playa FYRE,” according to the festival’s website — though the GPS coordinates provided on the festival’s website appear to point to a landless spot to the west of Isla Mujeres.
Skepticism would not be out of place when it comes to a sequel of an event where everything seemed to go wrong, but people willing to roll the dice can get started immediately, as some tickets are already on sale.
What is planned for the sequel? The festival is being advertised as “an electrifying celebration of music, arts, cuisine, comedy, fashion, gaming, sports and treasure hunting — all set in the stunning location of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
