Billy McFarland talks plans for Fyre Festival 2: Music, 'Fight Pit,' redemption

USA Today

25-02-2025

Billy McFarland talks plans for Fyre Festival 2: Music, 'Fight Pit,' redemption "We don't want the person who's necessarily afraid or questioning what's going to happen. We want the person who's going to embrace it," Billy McFarland told USA TODAY.
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'It's real': Fyre Festival 2 tickets on sale for up to $1.1 million
Fyre Festival relaunches in 2025, despite founder Billy McFarland's conviction and past failures, with tickets going for up to $1.1 million.
Straight Arrow News
Eight years after a weekend of leaky tents, insufficient bathrooms and a lack of running water, Fyre Festival is back for redemption.
Festival founder Billy McFarland announced last year that the infamous music festival, first held in the Bahamas in 2017, would be returning. This year's come-back music festival, to be held on Mexico's Isla Mujeres, is slated for May 30 through June 2, with tickets starting at $1,400 per person.
Fyre Festival 2 comes nearly a decade after the first attempt of the upscale music bash, resulting in two documentaries, including Netflix's "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened."
"I have a very limited ability to convince someone to trust me or to come to Fyre Festival 2," McFarland told USA TODAY on Monday. "We don't want the person who's necessarily afraid or questioning what's going to happen. We want the person who's going to embrace it and going to realize that this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, just based on who you're going to meet, who you're going to be around and maybe some of the adventures you're going to take."
As the date for Fyre Festival 2 approaches, here's everything we know about what went wrong in 2017 and what could be in store for 2025.
What happened during the first Fyre Festival?
Intended to be held over two weeks in April and May 2017, the first Fyre Festival was promoted by social media influencers like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber, and ticketholders were promised acts like Blink-182 and Migos.
However upon arrival, festival-goers learned artists had canceled. Due to poor Caribbean weather, the festival was essentially washed out, with the promised luxury accommodations and gourmet food nowhere to be found. In the end, attendees only stayed one night before they were evacuated.
In 2018, McFarland, who is now 33, was sentenced to six years in prison for engaging in several fraudulent schemes related to the festival. He acknowledged that he had defrauded investors out of $26 million for the festival and more than $100,000 in fraudulent ticket-selling schemes after his arrest. After serving four years of his sentence, McFarland was released from prison in early 2022 and transferred to a New York halfway house, which he was then released from later that year.
What is Fyre Festival 2?
According to its website, Fyre Festival 2 is an "electrifying celebration of music, arts, cuisine, comedy, fashion, gaming, sports and treasure hunting."
McFarland said the festival will feature live music during the evenings and a variety of "excursions" and athletic activities during the day.
Fyre Festival 2 co-founder Mike Falb told USA TODAY that confirmed excursions include a whale shark dive with a festival artist and diver, exploration of the Cancún Underwater Museum with a visual artist and a class with an MMA champion. McFarland also confirmed that the festival will feature a "Fight Pit," where MMA fighters will duel each night.
When is Fyre Festival 2?
Fyre Festival 2 is May 30 through June 2, 2025.
How much are Fyre Festival 2 tickets? How many are available?
Only 2,000 tickets are available for Fyre Festival 2, ranging between between $1,400 to $1.1 million. As of Monday, 400 had been sold, including one of the $1.1 million ticket packages McFarland said.
According to the Fyre Festival website, there are four ticket options available:
Ignite ($1,400): Four-day access for one person.
Four-day access for one person. Fuego ($5,000): Four-day access for one person, VIP access to festival grounds and close viewing of Fight Pit.
Four-day access for one person, VIP access to festival grounds and close viewing of Fight Pit. Phoenix ($25,000): Four-day access for two people, artist access to festival grounds and pit-side access to Fight Pit, three-night stay for two at Impression Isla Mujeres or Almare All-Inclusive Resort, Isla Mujeres, private ground transportation, travel and accommodation assistance from Fyre Concierge.
Four-day access for two people, artist access to festival grounds and pit-side access to Fight Pit, three-night stay for two at Impression Isla Mujeres or Almare All-Inclusive Resort, Isla Mujeres, private ground transportation, travel and accommodation assistance from Fyre Concierge. Prometheus ($1.1 million): Four-day access for eight people, "Prometheus access" to festival grounds, fight team access to Fight Pit, curated itinerary, 24/7 private chauffeur service, access to private marina, private air charter flight from Miami, Florida to Cancun International Airport followed by private helicopter ride to Isla Mujeres, travel and accommodation assistance from Fyre Concierge, three-night stay on yacht or villa.
All ticket sales are final and refunds are not allowed.
Where is Fyre Festival 2?
Fyre Festival 2 will be held on Isla Mujeres in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Located in the Caribbean Sea, Isla Mujeres is about eight miles off the coast of Cancún, Mexico.
McFarland said the festival is working with a "private venue owner," which is where the festival will be held, but he said on Monday that he couldn't disclose the exact venue.
Who is headlining Fyre Festival 2?
A musical lineup has not been announced for Fyre Festival 2. Artists will be announced one-by-one in March, McFarland said.
McFarland confirmed that the festival has booked some artists and is targeting a "few dozen" total. He said the music will be cross-genre, including electronic, pop, rock and hip-hop.
When asked if any "A-list musicians" had been booked for Fyre Festival 2, McFarland said, "I think A-list of pretty subjective, but in my opinion, they're definitely A-list."
Why is Billy McFarland hosting a second Fyre Festival?
McFarland said he has two goals with Fyre Festival 2: "Bring the initial goals of sharing these island adventures and island trips with as many people as possible" and restitution.
As part of his sentencing, McFarland agreed to pay $26 million in restitution to victims of the first Fyre Festival. Falb told USA TODAY that $500,000 of the proceeds from the festival and an additional 10% of all profits will be put toward the restitution.
What will make Fyre Festival 2 different?
"There is a big difference from last time," McFarland said. "For the first Fyre, we had the idea ... in October (2016), we put tickets for sale in December (2016) and tried to execute in April (2017), and obviously, we made a ton of bad decisions and mistakes along the way. The big difference this time was the process we ran. We started speaking with potential partners almost two years ago and then the idea had obviously been in the works for a long time before that."
For the first Fyre Festival, McFarland and his associates handled every aspect of planning, from talent booking to ticket sales. This time around, McFarland is working with three partners to handle behind-the-scenes operations. These include production company Lostnights, ticketing platform FriendlySky and ticket resell platform SoldOut.com.
SoldOut.com President Andrew Hentrich said he was one of the first 100 people to purchase a Fyre Festival 2 ticket when they were teased back in August 2023. When the opportunity arose to partner with the festival, he was "thrilled."
"We have worked closely with Billy and the Fyre team over the past few months and have seen firsthand his commitment to making a true redemption story," Hentrich told USA TODAY.
Friendlysky CEO Ian Chalmers told USA TODAY that in his 30-plus years working in the hospitality industry, he "can't think of a more highly-anticipated event than Fyre Festival 2."
Lostnights did not immediately respond for comment about working with McFarland when contacted by USA TODAY on Monday.
Who is Billy McFarland?
Deemed by Vanity Fair as the "poster boy for millennial scamming," William "Billy" Zervakos McFarland hails from New Jersey and is the son of real estate developers Steven and Irene McFarland.
McFarland's LinkedIn profile lists several different startups he has founded over the years, including online advertiser Spling in 2010, exclusive "black card" social club and membership program Magnises in 2013 and marketing agency PYRT in 2022. McFarland also founded Fyre Media, Inc., the company behind Fyre Festival, in 2016. FYRT and Fire Media, Inc. are the only two startups that remain.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [e-mail].