Billy McFarland, creator of the failed 2017 Fire Festival Music Event, announced Wednesday that it was selling the Fire brand after attempting to organize Fire Festival 2 in Mexico from May 30th to June 2nd.
McFarland spent several years in prison after not offering what he promised to be a lavish music festival with famous acts in the Bahamas, eventually scamming 80 investors out of the $24 million, scaming ticket holders and staff for the event from thousands of dollars, and showing up at a glorious campsite without entertainment.
“Fire is one of the most powerful attention engines in the world,” McFarland wrote in a statement Wednesday posted on FireFestival’s Instagram. “Since 2017, Feel has headed, dominated documentaries, conversations, as one of the most talked about music festivals. I knew the Feel would grow, but I didn’t know how big the waves would be.
McFarland added that the Fyre brand is “suitable for a team with scale, experience and infrastructure.”
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Oren Ack, who worked on the first Fire Festival, said the event had failed when he arrived in the Bahamas in 2017 and saw a line of fema-style tents in place of guests in the gorgeous villa. (Stefanie Far)
“We have decided that the best way to achieve our goal is to sell the FireFestival brand, including its trademark, IP, digital assets, media reach and cultural capital.
The announcement will be held in Mexico, first in Isla Mugerez and then Playa del Carmen.
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Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland was in the process of planning a comeback for Fyre Festival 2, which was originally scheduled to be held in Mexico. (istock)
The festival has been postponed, but Fire organizers have never announced the postponement on their website or social media. Rather, Fyre’s partners confirmed to Fox News Digital and other outlets that the event was suspended and tickets were refunded.
Earlier this month, Fire Festival organizers fought back In a statement from Playa del Carmen, the government in Mexico City said it had no knowledge of the event.
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Participants at the Fire Festival take part in a small plane reading the Bahamas Fire Festival in 2017. (Stefanie Far)
“Fair has been working directly with the Playa del Carmen Government (PDC) and its officials since March 5, 2025 to ensure a safe and successful event,” the organizers said.
“All media reports that suggest that our team is not working with the PDC government are simply inaccurate and based on misinformation,” the statement read. “Fyre operates as a great partner in the PDC government and follows the right processes and procedures to legally host events.”
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The original 2017 Fire Festival was a failed attempt to land Billy McFarland behind the bar. (Stefanie Far)
McFarland also posted a video of a press conference he and his team held at Playa del Carmen on March 28th.
However, Playa del Carmen posted its own statement on social media, saying, “[i]N’s response to rumors about the supposed event called “Fyre 2” informs us that an event with that name will not be held in Playa del Carmen. ”
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Photos of sandwiches offered at the Fire Festival in 2017. (Stefanie Far)
This was the second statement from a government agency that denied the festival’s existence since March. The event was originally scheduled to be held Isla Mugerez in MexicoDuring these dates, however recently I moved to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Islam Geres said the Fire Festival organizers were not requesting permission in the popular holiday town.
Tickets for Fyre Festival 2 began at $1,400 per person for general admission and went up from there. The most expensive tickets sold for over $1 million, offering four days of private air and yacht trips, luxury villa accommodation and access to festivals.
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Billy McFarland will visit Jesse Watters Primetime at Fox News Studios in New York City on August 25th, 2023. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
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After the 2017 Fire Festival failed, Hulu and Netflix released a documentary about the failed beach bash, and went viral on social media when they made the #Fyrefraud hashtag viral at the time.
The festival reached a settlement with 277 ticket holders in 2021, and was ordered to pay each recipient a $7,220 award.
