Coachella 2025 draws Fyre Festival comparisons as concertgoers face 12 hour wait times
Coachella 2025 is underway, and long wait lines are causing chaos as campers and concertgoers descend on the California desert, drawing comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival.
While many Coachella festivalgoers who are camping outdoors are already on the grounds, car campers described massive traffic wait times — upwards of 12 hours — in entering festival grounds and arriving to a spot to set up. The desert music festival's first weekend kicks off Friday and goes to Sunday.
One social media user took to TikTok saying that they're "starting to think it's Fyre Festival," the infamous 2017 music festival held in the Bahamas where festivalgoers experienced a host of logistical issues.
Fyre Festival was the brainchild of businessman Billy McFarland, who was later convicted of fraud and became the subject of two popular documentaries in 2019: "Fyre Fraud" on Hulu and Netflix's "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened."
Coachella 2025: See first week's lineup, daily schedule, set times, how to watch livestream
Other festivalgoers said it was a "disaster," with one TikTok showing a random person starting to direct traffic. Other Coachella car campers took to social media to explain their situation as one wrote that they were going to "run out of gas" if there wasn't a fix.
In 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for engaging in several fraudulent schemes related to Fyre Festival. After his arrest, he acknowledged that he had defrauded investors out of $26 million and more than $100,000 in fraudulent ticket-selling schemes.
Is Fyre Festival 2 happening? 2 months out, lineup remains unseen, event changes location
This year, McFarland is making a second attempt at the scandal-ridden 2017 festival as he mounts comeback from May 30 to June 2 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a recent change from the festival's initially promoted location of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The location announcement was shared on Fyre Festival's social media on March 21, just 70 days before the festival's first day.
But issues loom large as McFarland attempts a comeback with an unseen lineup and logistical shifts. And some on social media are proclaiming that perhaps Coachella's first weekend may have beaten him to the punch with the traffic concerns.
Fans who are choosing not to brave the desert heart can watch Coachella performances on YouTube. The streams are scheduled to start on April 11 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. Fans will be able to watch multiple stages from their coach simultaneously, while a vertical live stream option featuring DJ sets will also be available.
Some of music's biggest stars and acts are scheduled to grace the stages, including Lady Gaga, Vintage Culture, Travis Scott, Charli XCX, Post Malone and more. The first weekend's events will run from April 11 to 13.
The official venue opens at 1 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with general parking opening at 11 a.m. Several sets are scheduled to begin at either 1 p.m. or during that hour.
Contributing: Greta Cross, Taylor Ardery, USA TODAY; Paris Barazza, The Desert Sun
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coachella draws Fyre Festival comparisons amid traffic issues
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