Convicted Fyre Festival fraudster returns, charging $1M for tickets to music event

Billy McFarland has announced that Fyre Festival will be making a return in April 2025.

During an interview with NBC News, the convicted fraudster revealed the details of his second attempt at hosting an exclusive music festival, which included ticket prices as high as $1 million.

“Fyre Festival II is happening April 25, 2025, so we’re 7½ months away,” McFarland told the outlet. “We have a private island off the coast of Mexico in the Caribbean, and we have an incredible production company who’s handling everything from soup to nuts.”

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland announced the controversial music festival will return in April 2025. (Patrick McMullan)

He explained that ticket prices would start at $1,400. According to the festival’s website, interested attendees must submit an application to be approved to purchase tickets to the three-day event on a private island off the coast of Mexico.

FYRE FESTIVAL FOUNDER BILLY MCFARLAND BREAKS SILENCE IN FIRST TV INTERVIEW

The hefty $1 million price tag would get attendees luxury yachts, scuba diving and island hopping, McFarland told NBC News.

Billy McFarland served time in prison for fraud charges. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

PR expert Eric Schiffer explained to Fox News Digital that McFarland is hoping the public will go into Fyre Festival II without remembering his first attempt.

“Billy is hoping the public has forgotten that he created one of the biggest cons in modern American History,” he said. “Anyone paying $1 million needs to have their head examined by a panel of leading psychiatrists.”

“Billy is hoping the public has forgotten that he created one of the biggest cons in modern American History. Anyone paying $1 million needs to have their head examined by a panel of leading psychiatrists.”

— Eric Shiffer

Public relations expert Doug Eldridge told Fox News Digital McFarland’s plan for Fyre Festival II sounds like a “creative writing story.”

“At its core, strategic public relations is meant to galvanize public understanding and trust; without it, you have nothing. When it comes to trust … he has no credibility and has been convicted of numerous fraud-related schemes,” Eldridge said. 

“The way to build credibility – given the deficit he’s facing in terms of public confidence and trust – would be to issue a statement, along with a detailed website, listing each of the confirmed corporate partners who are already contracted and part of the plan,” he added. “In the absence of this type of transparency, McFarland sounds like a high school kid who is describing the party he’s hosting Friday night after the football game. ‘It’ll be the sickest party ever!’ Not exactly confidence-inspiring.”

Billy McFarland noted that tickets for Fyre Festival II would go up to $1 million. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

In McFarland’s announcement, he did not specify the name of the island or the companies he had lined up to handle the event. He also noted that the festival had not booked any artists yet.

However, McFarland did note that the 2025 festival will be very different from the 2017 event. He explained attendees will not be sleeping in disaster relief tents. Instead, villas and hotels will be available for guests to stay in.

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McFarland also touched on the infamous cheese sandwiches served in styrofoam containers and explained that, next year, the food will be more gourmet.

“We will have cheese sandwiches, though,” he joked to the outlet. “They’re going to be super expensive, too. We’re going to make them, like, really good. Like, that’ll be the highest priced food item, I think.”

WATCH: Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland: Fyre Festival II is in the works

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Eldrige weighed in on the “super expensive” cheese sandwiches that will be served at Fyre Festival II. 

“Who is this guy selling to? Will gourmet Cheerios be on the menu? Perhaps artesian tap water?”

Eldridge explained to Fox News Digital that attendees seven years ago had much bigger issues with the music festival than the food that was served. 

FYRE FESTIVAL FOUNDER BILLY MACFARLAND WORKING ON PRISON MEMOIR

“It’d be one thing if concertgoers were unhappy with the beer prices, the bathroom lines or the sound system for their favorite band. That would be normal, but that’s not the case here,” he said. “The fact that he served time for fraud-related charges — and his scheme made international headlines — leads​ anyone to wonder how he would be able to do this again. The better question, however, is who would be willing to even consider it.”

Billy McFarland hosted the original Fyre Festival in 2017. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced to six years in prison. McFarland admitted to defrauding investors of $26 million over the 2017 Fyre Festival and over $100,000 in a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme after his arrest in the scam.

McFarland served less than four years in prison and was released in 2022.

In April 2017, McFarland joined forces with rapper Ja Rule to organize the festival. Ja Rule didn’t face any charges related to the festival and issued an apology on X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2017. 

“I’m heartbroken at this moment,” Ja Rule wrote. “My partners and I wanted this to be an amazing event. It was NOT A SCAM … I truly apologize as this is NOT MY FAULT… but I’m taking responsibility. I’m deeply sorry to everyone who was inconvenienced by this.”

The Fyre Festival was originally promoted as a luxurious music festival in the Bahamas promoted by celebrities, including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski.

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Customers who paid $1,200 to over $100,000 hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip-hop act Migos arrived to learn musical acts were canceled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and packaged food.

Billy McFarland exiting U.S. Federal Court in Manhattan after his presentment on wire fraud charges in July 2017. (Reuters)

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Customers lashed out on social media with the hashtag #fyrefraud. The failed music bash in the Bahamas went viral after Netflix and Hulu released documentaries about the saga.