A new documentary series in on the way detailing the events, or lack thereof, that happened during the biggest scam of 2017. What was supposed to have been a lavish luxury experience for thousands of travelers turned into a complete nightmare for everyone. First-hand accounts will be shown to the public in this new television series from Hulu and will document what really happened during the highly anticipated Fyre Festival.
So what really happened?
On April 28, 2017, thousands of very wealthy music fans made their way down to the Great Exuma Island of the Bahamas with high hopes of having a great time with popular music artists but things went downhill from the time all flights arrived on the island.
Travelers were greeted with makeshift tents and pre-packaged cheese sandwiches instead of the luxury cabanas and lavish chef prepared dinners they all had paid thousands of dollars for. There were supposed to have been celebrity performances but instead travelers were only given a performance by a local band no one even knew the name of. Tickets for this event went as high as five figures for most and they never received any of the things that they had already paid for in advance.
What made this horrible inaugural Festival worse is that popular music artist JaRule and a whole host of internet famous models were continuously promoting the event as the place to be last April. Their intentions were to create a "Coachella" type of event on the island for two weekends back to back.
To keep everyone quiet and mask the scam that was truly going on, the internet famous models would walk through the crowds of confused and angry attendees once they arrived on the island, giving out alcohol shots instead of valid information as to what was really going on with the festival. Billy McFarland, the festival organizer, and rapper JaRule were often seen having fun on their ATV's while travelers were stuck on the island with soaked tents and beds, no actual building to keep them and their property safe, and no legitimate food to eat while there.
— Ja Rule (@Ruleyork) April 28, 2017
Fyre Festival organizer pleads guilty to wire fraud
So where was the organizer of the event? Well, apparently he showed up but was not of much help with the organization of the event. Recently, festival organizer Billy McFarland plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud for not delivering what was promised and accepting some very high amounts of money from the travelers who attended with no intention of giving them what they paid for.
Tickets per person went as high as $15,000. McFarland is currently facing up to 10 years in prison and is being forced to pay $25 million in settlements to everyone who attended. His trial is set for June 21, 2018.
