Fyre Festival: The Party That Never Got Started

ABSTRACT: The Fyre Festival was the brainchild of promoter Billy McFarland. McFarland had promised to present an “exclusive” lifestyle, two weekend, music festival in the Bahamas during the spring of 2017 that would have top named musical artists and famous celebrities attending the event. The festival was promoted by famous social media influencers who were paid up to $250,000 for a single endorsement. The customers, who were convinced that this was “the party” to go to, were willing to pay thousands of dollars in order to receive “exclusive” VIP treatment. The promises by McFarland included staying in a luxury villa and receiving gourmet meals. When the customers arrived at the festival site the day before the festival was to start, they discovered that there were no luxury villas and their accommodations were emergency tents left over from a hurricane. Their first “gourmet meal” was a prepackaged cheese sandwich in a Styrofoam container. It was evident from the beginning that McFarland and all of his employees who were organizing the festival knew that it would be a failure and that it would be impossible to provide the services that were being promised to the customers. Thisarticle discusses the role of fraud, celebrity status, and social media influencers in the promotion and the failure of the Fyre Festival. In addition, the role of Billy McFarland is discussed in light of the Fyre Festival being just one event in his questionable ethical career as an entrepreneur