A year after his release from prison, the founder of the failed Fyre Festival is teasing round two. "Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited," Billy McFarland tweeted Sunday. He hasn't revealed details but suggested the event would again take place on an island. "Going to crush the island version first, but @ElonMusk Fyre 3 definitely needs to be in space," he wrote. McFarland pitched the original 2017 Fyre Festival on an island in the Bahamas as a star-studded, ultra-luxurious music event, but performers failed to show up and attendees, who paid at least $1,200 for a ticket plus airfare, encountered huts, cold cheese sandwiches, a lack of drinking water, power outages, and canceled flights home.
McFarland later admitted to defrauding 80 investors and a ticket broker. He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018, though he was granted early release last year. He still owes $26 million in restitution and Fyre Festival II might be intended to raise some of the required funds. Weeks ago, McFarland tweeted that he would pay back the money through "filming TV shows" and focusing on "what I'm really, really good at"—namely "getting talent together, and delivering the moment."
Chris Bakke, co-founder and CEO of job-matching startup Laskie, shared a screenshot showing McFarland had personally invited him to "Fyre Fest II." "I have zero details, but I've already packed my bags (2 t-shirts and 17 cases of Evian water)," Bakke tweeted. McFarland hasn't revealed any interested artists or even a venue. You can bet it won't be in the Bahamas, though. Last year, the country's tourism minister said the country "will not endorse or approve any event in the Bahamas associated with [McFarland]," who "is considered to be a fugitive," per Gizmodo. (More Fyre Festival stories.)
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