The infamous Fyre Festival brand, associated with the disastrous 2017 event, is attempting another comeback, this time as a week-long “experience” in the Caribbean. Announced on June 2nd via an Instagram collaboration between the official Fyre account and its founder, the convicted fraudster Billy McFarland, the new venture is dubbed the “Fyre Coral View Pop-Up.“
Scheduled to take place from September 3rd to 10th on Utila, one of Honduras’ Bay Islands, the event is being marketed as a getaway for “adventurers, creators, and the curious.” According to a statement on the newly launched Fyre Hotels website, a small beach resort on Utila approached Fyre after hearing the brand’s intellectual property was for sale. Their idea was to leverage the Fyre name to bring global attention to their “off-the-map gem” by having Fyre program “unforgettable experiences.”
The Fyre Hotels website further explains that this return to the Caribbean is seen as a way to reconnect with the “spark that started it all,” referencing earlier, smaller-scale island trips that predated the ill-fated Fyre Festival. This new pop-up promises to blend adventure, spontaneity, and paradise.
This announcement comes after McFarland’s plans for a “Fyre Fest 2” were indefinitely postponed in April 2025, and a portion of the Fyre IP was reportedly sold to a documentarian for a music-focused streaming platform. Despite the brand’s notorious past, this latest iteration aims to re-establish Fyre with a resort pop-up experience.
About Fyre Festival
The Fyre Festival, a name now synonymous with spectacular failure, was the brainchild of Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. Initially conceived in 2016 to promote McFarland’s Fyre music booking app, it was marketed as an ultra-luxurious, exclusive music festival on a private Bahamian island once supposedly owned by Pablo Escobar. Promoted heavily by social media influencers, the event promised high-end accommodations, gourmet food, and A-list musical acts, with ticket packages costing thousands, and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, when attendees arrived in April and May of 2017, they were met with chaos: disaster relief tents instead of villas, inadequate food (famously including cheese sandwiches in styrofoam containers), no medical services, and a complete lack of organization. The festival quickly collapsed, leading to multiple lawsuits, widespread media ridicule, and ultimately, a federal conviction for McFarland on fraud charges.
But a federal conviction wouldn’t hold McFarland back. Since his release from prison, he’s made several attempts to keep the Fyre brand alive and generate new ventures. He announced plans for “Fyre Festival 2,” initially slated for late 2024 in the Caribbean, and later promoted for April or May 2025 in Mexico, with tickets going on sale. These plans, however, faced setbacks, including denials from officials in proposed locations and eventual indefinite postponement. In April of this year, McFarland announced that the Fyre brand itself was up for sale, including its trademarks and intellectual property, stating the brand was “bigger than any one person.” Now, just two months later, McFarland has shifted his focus back to promoting Fyre with the “Fyre Coral View Pop-Up.” If there’s one redeeming quality McFarland has, it’s his perseverance.
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