Fyre Festival – the disastrous luxury party that left hundreds stranded in the Bahamas – is getting a second run, with tickets now on sale for $499 (around £391).
The organiser of the event – Billy McFarland – went to prison in the US for fraud following the botched music event which was supposed to take place on the Caribbean island of Exuma over two weekends in April and May 2017.
Image: Billy McFarland was jailed over the festival
The failed 2017 event was billed as “an immersive music festival on a remote and private island” with “the best in food, art, music and adventure” and it claimed to be “on the boundaries of the impossible”.
Partygoers paid up to $12,000 (£9,200) a head and were promised opulent accommodation and deluxe food.
However, when they arrived, guests were greeted with chaos – a rain-sodden campsite, emergency tents, piles of soggy mattresses and sad looking cheese and salad sandwiches in a takeaway container for dinner.
The whole sorry debacle was documented in the 2019 film FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.
The event had more than $26m (£20m) in losses after it was cancelled due to inadequate accommodation, food and water.
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Image: Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid and Jasmine Tookes were part of the original promotional campaign
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However, McFarland, who was released from jail last year, says he’s rebooting Fyre Festival.
In a video shared on social media, the 31-year-old – who appears to be dressed in a white spa dressing gown – said he devised the plan for a redo during a stint in solitary confinement.
While details on the actual organisation of the event were scarce, he said that after considering holding the festival in the Middle East or South America, he’d decided to bring it “back to the Caribbean”.
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He told his 22.6k Instagram followers: “We are targeting Fyre Festival 2 for the end of next year.
“It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here and it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement.
“I wrote out this 50-page plan of how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre, and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen, how I would find the best partners in the world to allow me to be me while executing Fyre’s vision to the highest level.”
He added: “In the meantime, we’ll be doing pop-ups and events across the world. Guys, this is your chance to get in. This is everything I’ve been working towards. Let’s f***ing go.”
The first 100 pre-sale tickets priced at $499 sold out in the first day of sale according to the website. Future tickets, which are yet to be released, will cost between $799 (about £626) and $7,999 (approximately £6,267) according to the pricelist.
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In a written statement on his Instagram page following the sale of the first batch of tickets, McFarland said he would be working with “the best logistical and infrastructure partners,” adding, “We look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build Fyre and Fyre Festival II into the island adventure of a lifetime”.
A disclaimer on the website says: “FII date is subject to change. Pre-events and pop-ups to be announced, but FYRE will host a minimum of 4 events prior to FFII.”
McFarland was sentenced to six years in jail in October 2018 by a federal court in Manhattan. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald called him a “serial fraudster”, AP reported at the time.
In March 2022, he was released early – with more than two years of his sentence left – being transferred to a halfway house from a low-security federal prison in Michigan, NBC News reported.
McFarland has already announced plans to make a Broadway musical about Fyre Festival.
TV presenter Holly Willoughby has been fined in court after she admitted driving without due care and attention when her car collided with a moped, injuring the rider.
The star, 44, pleaded guilty by post to the charge at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday but did not attend the hearing.
Willoughby was fined £1,653 alongside £130 in costs and a £661 victim surcharge and given six points on her licence, the Metropolitan Police said.
According to court documents, the incident happened on 28 August as she was driving her Mini Cooper near her home in Richmond, southwest London.
Police were called to Church Road, Barnes, following reports of a collision.
The rider of the moped, a 43-year-old man, was taken to hospital. His injuries were assessed as neither life-threatening nor life-changing.
Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.
The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.
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It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.
President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.
Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.
Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.
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Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.
In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.
Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.
Dame Joanna Lumley has warned of a “crisis hidden in plain sight”, with 1.5 million older people set to spend Christmas alone.
Age UK spoke to more than 2,600 people and found 11% will eat dinner alone on 25 December, while 5% will not see or speak to anyone the whole day.
Applied to the overall population, the findings suggest 1.5 million people will eat alone at Christmas, according to the charity.
Dame Joanna said the “silence can be deafening” for those left isolated and called it “a crisis hidden in plain sight”.
The actor and campaigner is now joining other luminaries including Dame Judi Dench, Brian Cox and Miriam Margolyes to back Age UK’s campaign against loneliness.
The charity says its volunteers made more than 70,000 minutes’ worth of calls to people during Christmas week last year and is urging people to donate.
‘A tragedy we don’t talk about enough’
Age UK said it also supports coffee mornings and festive lunches to give lonely people the chance to enjoy in-person interaction.
Dame Judi said: “For so many older people, Christmas can be a time of silence – days without conversation or company.”
Succession star Brian Cox called the issue “a tragedy we don’t talk about enough”.
He said: “Far too many older people are left spending the season in silence, when it should be a time of warmth, connection and joy.”
Image: Brian Cox is another of the campaign’s high-profile backers. Pic: PA
Margolyes, of Harry Potter fame, added: “Growing older shouldn’t mean disappearing into the background, we need to be seen, heard and celebrated.
“That’s what Age UK is striving for – they’re changing how we perceive age.”
The charity’s chief executive, Paul Farmer, said: “Your donation could bring comfort, friendship, and care to an older person facing loneliness this winter.
“From friendly, weekly calls to local lunch clubs, we’re here to make sure no one spends winter alone. But we can’t do it without you.”