Fyrie and Fury Imagine "a world ofsuireal experiences and inspired curiosity that touches the sweet spot between imagination and possibility . . a place where the Tropical sun shines all day. and our celebrations ignite the night i This is a snippet from the marketing campaign for Fyre Fest. a luxury concert event that 20-something socialite entrepreneur Billy McFarland and rapper Ia Rule conceptualized when they discovered the beautiful. Bahamas Exuma Islands in October 2016. McFarland had no experience producing live mus1c festivals. but he had plenty ofconnections. knew how to raise money. and understood 2-1-1 the power of mes s aging Fyre Festival took off on social media less than two months later when Kendall Jenner. Bella Hadid. Emily Ratajkowski. and other inuencers simultaneously lnstagrammed the event's first advertisement. 245 The video featured crystal-blue waters. yachts. and supermodels "frolicking and dancing on a beach. Ticket packages ranged from $1.300 to 3400.000 and included promises of luxury beach villas. treasure hunts. white-glove concierge services. and the finest gourmet food and drinks from famed restaurateur Stephen Starriall on the private Exuma island of Tyre Cay that once belonged to the late drug lord Pablo Escobar. The social media campaign was a massive success. and thousands Page 6910f adventurous conceitgoers quickly cashed in on the chance to be part ofthe extravaganza. What they '46 got was anything but. FYRE FESTIVAL GOES DO\")? LV FLAMES On Thursday. April . 201?. throngs of excited festivalgoers began arriving in the Exumas. Organizers had arranged first-class transportation between the airport and the festival and a white-glove service to deliver attendees luggage straight to their reserved luxury villas. Instead. attendees rode on packed school buses to an unfinished. gravel-covered development plot speckled with emergency-relieftents. There was nary a villa. concierge. shower. or gourmet meal in sight: ' There were no celebrity sightings and no musicians because McFarland and his team. seeing disaster ahead. had already secretly "JS alerted them to stay away. McFarland had sent no such messages to the rest of the attendees. who arrived to dashed dreams. Event staff told attendees. "It's every man for himself as they rushed to grab tents in a free-forall. "They had no way to communicate with anybody." said one attendee. who remembers McFarland standing atop a table frantically yelling instructions at the crowdfsc' Another recalls \"everyone you spoke to had a different answer and no one knew who was in charge . . . there were no [phone] chargers or electricity outlets . . . and there was barely service. 1 Attendees who weren't lucky enough to find hotel rooms on the island or tiansportation back to the airport slept on soaking wet mattresses and dined on sliced bread and cheese. They found their luggage piled inside a giant shipping container and searched for their bags in the darkness with cell phone lights. The event was a complete and utter disaster. Thousands of ticketliolders eventually made their way off the island in a mass exodus marked by hunger. exhaustion. bewilderment. and anger. The only direct communication they received from the organizers was a single e-mail saying. "The festival is being postponed until we can further assess ifand when we are able to create the high-quality experience we envisioned": Tyre organizers took to social media in the days that followed. blaming the weather and the Exumas= poor infrastructure for the fiasco}? construction lot. He failed his team. vendors. attendees. and the people of the Bahamas. i In reality. McFarland had tiied to plan an unprecedented event on an undeveloped \\YHERE DID THINGS GO WRONG? A big event starts with a big ideaa concept for a theme. audience. and expeiience. A fairly standard process is then used to plan the event. Organizers first calculate a realistic idea of their finanCial resources. aligning all subsequent decisions with this budget. Second comes logistics. which include searching for a venue. ensuring that the venue provides a safe and suitable infrastructure; securing any necessary additions. upgrades. and permits; contracting with vendors (caterers. service staff. security. sanitation companies); and booking talent (musicians. performers). Third. and only after logistics are in place. organizers develop and distribute marketing materials and use those to sell admission. The process requires experience. expertise. and a constant flow of communication among various stakeholdersrc4 McFarland did things his own way. He began by paying models and influencers hundreds ofthousands of dollars to advertise a fantasy. sold tickets to said fantasy; and repeatedly ignored information indicating that he didn't have the time. money. or expertise to pull it off. The island onyre Cay didn't ex1st. nor did the lavish villas people had booked through the festivals website. and McFarland had repeatedly failed to nd production firms that would execute the event on his terms One executive recalls a familiar scene: "They [production companies] would say 'lt's going to cost. like. $5 million to stage this thing.' and the Tyre guys would say. 'No. it'll cost 8300.000] 1 . There was a complete detachment from reality 2 'Six weeks before the event. \"Nothing had been done . . . Festival vendors weren't in place. no stage had been rented. transportation had not been arranged." according to former Fyre talent producer Chloe Gordon. Planners warned McFarland and his team that they didn't have the money to put on the event they had advertised and should instead roll tickets over to a 2018 event and begin planning it immediately. Gordon recalls a Fyre executive responding. \"Let's just do it and be legends. man She quit a week later \"5 Rumors began to circulate among entertainment industry professionals in the weeks before the festival. and on April 2. Tic-e li'hi'} Swear Journa} reported growing concerns about the event. Vendors. contractors. and artists were severing ties when they didn't receive payment. and ticketholders were still in the dark about logisticsi Maude Etkin. an interior designer and ticketholder from Manhattan. says Eyre hadn't responded to e-mails for weeks Through it all. McFarland continued to promote Fyi'e Festival as a top-notch experience through his website and social media platforms. hanging onto his fantasy until the bitter end. TRIAL BY FYRE Class-action lawsuits against McFarland and the T'yre organization quickly surfaced. with vendors. employees. and attendees citing fraud. breach of contract. and negligent misrepresentation McFarland took a plea deal in March 2018. admitting to two counts of wire fraud and forfeiting $27 million He was sentenced to six years in federal prison and has since been ordered to pay millions to compensate unpaid lenders and slighted festivalgoers.g Tyre media is. in turn. seeking to Page 6921'ecoup damages through at least 14 lawsuits of its own against performers who failed to show up for the event and inuencers who the organization alleges provided misleading information to ticketholders through social media In May 2 20. Kendall Jennerone of the aforementioned influencersagreed to pay 890.000 for. among other things. leading followers to believe that Kanye West was performing at the festival