Fyre Fest founder teases new festival

Fyre Fest founder and convicted felon Billy McFarland is reportedly planning a new festival after his release from prison.

The 30-year-old received a six-year jail term in 2018 and a US$26 million fine for his role in the notorious festival, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam.

Fans paid between $1,500 and $50,000 to attend the 2017 festival on the island of Grand Exuma in the Bahamas, with the promise of luxury accommodation, gourmet food and music from acts such as Blink-182, Major Lazer, Pusha T and Disclosure.

However, the event spectacularly collapsed on its first day, as ticket-holders arrived to find half-built tents, insufficient food and a dearth of performers upon arrival.

Yesterday (25 October), he posted a since-deleted TikTok video where he admitted to the shortcomings of the 2017 event before claiming to have another project in the works to make up for Fyre Fest.

McFarland revealed that the next update about his next event will come in November, adding that “everybody is invited”. He later posted a YouTube video that implies that a treasure hunt is coming.

The disgraced entrepreneur also posted a phone number which, when texted, the sender received two messages that said “Welcome to the Treasure Hunt! Drop your contact info to come on board,” and “You going to join the ship? Once you add yourself you get the first clue”.

Sources with “direct knowledge” told TMZ that McFarland is apparently creating another music festival, among other things.

Last month, in an interview with New York Times, following his early release from prison, McFarland said he’d “like to do something tech-based”.

Despite being barred from becoming a company director, McFarland does not rule out starting his own firm.

“At the end of the day, I think I could probably create the most value by building some sort of tech product,” he continued. “Whether that’s within a company or by starting my own company, I’m open to both. I’ll probably decide in the next couple of weeks which path to go do.”

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