Picture the scene. You’re pretty well off, and you fancy a festival this summer. Couldn’t get Glastonbury tickets, and Reading and Leeds is a bit, erm, dirty for you. You want to watch some of music’s biggest names, in a bit of style and a bit of luxury. Fyre Festival, then, the ‘luxury festival’ starring Major Lazer, Disclosure, Skepta and more looks mighty appealing. Yeah, tickets cost between $4,000 and $12,000 – but it’ll be worth it, right?
Er, perhaps not. The festival, which takes place in the lovely Bahamas has transpired to be a bit of a dystopian nightmare, with reports flooding social media from dissatisfied punters detailing some of the nightmarish scenarios.
Things got off to bad start when one of the headliners Blink-182 cancelled their slot after they deemed they were unable to give the “quality of performances” fans are used to.
— blink-182 (@blink182) April 27, 2017
Then, as attendees arrived on site, that’s when things got really bad. William N Finley, a writer for the ITB Insider and others have been chronicling the chaos on Twitter.
So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organization. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city. pic.twitter.com/1lSWtnk7cA
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 27, 2017
This is how Fyre Fest handles luggage. Just drop it out of a shipping container. At night. With no lights. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/X5CdZRyJWo
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
These are the secure lockers at Fyre Fest. They forgot to tell us we needed locks. #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/Tqyjqbg2Gy
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
#FyreFestival update, photos from the ground! pic.twitter.com/Z7fn9cKaz3
— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 27, 2017
And here’s the luxury food offering.
what do you think of this meal that was apparently served at #fyrefestival that ppl paid +12k for @GordonRamsay pic.twitter.com/a0BQVAHmvn
— bereketli cuma haftası ?️? (@smolwarden) April 28, 2017
Reddit also reported some serious and disturbing allegations of the attendees being seriously mistreated.
Eventually, the festival was cancelled, and attendees were returned home. But, predictably, that went about as well as you’d think…
Just waiting with my Fyre Fest pals to get on the flight out. The plane hasn't left Miami yet. It's lit! #fyre #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/glIYmIG0dc
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Just sitting on the runway while they check every single passport again. By hand. On a clipboard. #fyre #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/esp7AV9h13
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
We have now gotten off the plane because they can't get the headcount and the manifest to match up. This is fine. #fyrefestival #fyre pic.twitter.com/W89nddb6Fe
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
They've now locked us in the airport. No rules, just right. Welcome to the Bahamas! (Tell my family I love them) #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/KkgkroZzhc
— William Needham Finley IV(It’s real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Since the festival has been officially cancelled, the festival organisers have come out in defence of the chaotic event.
Rapper Ja Rule, who was one of the festival’s organisers, came out on Friday to say that they were working on fixing the situation – but that it “WASN’T MY FAULT”.
— Ja Rule (@jarule) April 28, 2017
Co-founder Billy McFarland has since confirmed that there are plans to host the event next year “We thought we were making timeframes that were correct. We were a little naïve in thinking for the first time we could do this ourselves. Next year, we will definitely start earlier. The reality is, we weren’t experienced enough to keep up.”
“We’re going to take every measure to make this right for everybody now, and make this right for everybody next year, on a large scale,” he said.
The festival then made several tweets apologising for the chaotic day.
#FyreFestival is a dream & vision we poured our hearts & souls into creating, 2017 fell dramatically short of even modest expectations
— Fyre Festival (@fyrefestival) April 30, 2017
That hasn’t stopped the lawsuits being filed. One lawsuit is allegedly suing the organisers for $100m following the chaos. The suit claims the “festival’s lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees – suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions – that was closer to The Hunger Games or Lord of the Flies than Coachella”.
One reporter for the NYT exposed the festival for their shady refund techniques, with a screenshot showing that the festival are offering to exchange tickets for next year’s festival, instead of paying back the full amount.
just fyi: Fyre Festival customers can forgo a refund in exchange for VIP passes to next year’s festival 🙂 pic.twitter.com/nUWWlpKX9R
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 1, 2017
Though Tweeters may want to watch what they say on social media – the organisers have allegedly fired off cease and desist orders to those who posted negative reports from the site.