Ja Rule and businessman put together the Fyre Festival, which was billed as a ‘one-in-a-lifetime’ luxury festival experience in the Bahamas.
Tickets to the festival ran between $4,000 and $12,000, with the price of admission including a chartered flight from Miami, private ‘geodome’ villas to sleep in, yacht rides with models, and performances from the likes of G.O.O.D. Music, Major Lazer, Blink-182, Disclosure, and more.
Upon arrival, however, those expecting luxury were greeted with a scene that looks like it came straight from a war zone.
via CoS:
According to reports on reddit and Twitter, the festival grounds were littered with half-built tents and mountains of trash. Catered meals were nothing more than a slice of bread and cheese, with a salad garnish for good measure. As night fell, the situation became even more chaotic, as festival staff and security were nowhere to be found. Luggage was thrown out of the back of a truck to an awaiting mob. There were reports of feral dogs running loose through the festival grounds, and some attendees allege to have gotten into verbal and physical confrontations with locals. All the while, flights to the island have been canceled.
If you think that sounds bad, take a look at some of the photos & videos from attendees trapped on the island.
So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organization. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city. pic.twitter.com/1lSWtnk7cA
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 27, 2017
The "catering" (which cost extra) was a slice of untoasted bread, two slices prepackaged cheese, and a side salad. pic.twitter.com/BoKxWAMI5i
— Iron Spike (@Iron_Spike) April 28, 2017
Early report is that many of the tents aren't assembled. Here's their tropical private island owned by Escobar! #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/TNzBDbNAUJ
— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 27, 2017
Live from Fyre Festival. https://t.co/gi9dXgQAzE
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/MattHalfhill/status/857828241234460672
They finally opened the doors to let some air in. The guy is ok. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/D7j5qtzsGi
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Also, we found a notebook from one of the Fyre Fest planners on the ground. It is amazing. #fyrefestival #fyre pic.twitter.com/jFib0nO2RW
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
These are the secure lockers at Fyre Fest. They forgot to tell us we needed locks. #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/Tqyjqbg2Gy
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
A view of the luxury food court with some luxury school bus transportation at Fyre Festival. #fyre #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/XL3PtRw8q0
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Just a reminder of what "The Duo" was originally sold as pic.twitter.com/gKz90zNBvu
— Michele Smith (@MicheleSmi) April 27, 2017
#FyreFestival update, photos from the ground! pic.twitter.com/Z7fn9cKaz3
— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 27, 2017
As word of the disaster began circulating, headliners Blink-182 backed out of their performance.
“Regrettably, and after much careful and difficult consideration, we want to let you know that we won’t be performing at Fyre Fest in the Bahamas this weekend and next weekend,” the band tweeted. “We’re not confident that we would have what we need to give you the quality of performances we always give fans.”
In response to the chaos, Fyre Festival organizers postponed the event completely.
“Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests,” they said. “At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get everyone off of Great Exuma and home safely as quickly as we can. We ask that guests currently on-island do not make their own arrangements to get to the airport as we are coordinating those plans. We are working to place everyone on complimentary charters back to Miami today; this process has commenced and the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority.”
Best believe lawsuits WILL be happening.
