Andy King has announced his return to the infamous Fyre Festival as Billy McFarland announces plans for Fyre Festival II in 2024. No details have yet been released about the event
05:07, 23 Aug 2023
The event producer of the infamous Fyre Festival that flopped in 2017 has vowed to return for Fyre Festival II, it has been revealed.
Andy King calling the revamped event the "ultimate redemption" for disgraced con artist Billy McFarland, who was jailed after fraudulently organising the first festival.
"I look forward to working with Billy and our partners to share Fyre with the world," King wrote in a statement to The U.S. Sun. "I'm so grateful to have support to help us execute the ultimate redemption."
King shot to fame after appearing in the Netflix documentary "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" in 2019, where he dramatically recounted the story of how he was prepared to perform a sex act to secure the festival's huge shipment of bottled Evian water that had been seized by Bahamian customs officers.
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It was a matter of paying $175,000 (£149,077) in cash to have the water released, or King and McFarland could explore other options of securing the water. King recounted that McFarland asked him to literally prepare to "suck d**k" to resolve the issue.
King's statements blew up and were plastered across the internet for months, and many memes circulated.
The documentary fan-favourite refused to answer questions about specifics of the upcoming festival revival, however, with his team just stating that more details would be coming "soon."
McFarland announced the return of the infamous event in a YouTube video that was vague, only stating that the festival would be occurring at the end of 2024 somewhere in the Caribbean. The website lists no additional information, and there have been no acts announced as of yet.
What was readily available, however, was the price of tickets for the event — which, at their cheapest, cost a staggering $499. That was the price for the first 100, which allegedly sold out in a day, McFarland said in another YouTube video on Monday.
The next batch, which comprises tickets 101 to 500, will be worth $799, but a sale date has yet to be announced for that set. After that, the price will increase to $1,199 for tickets 501 to 600, then $1,799 for 601 to 650, eventually increasing to a whopping $7,999 for 751 to 777, the last tickets in the presale.
McFarland came up with the business plan for the new festival during a seven-month stint in solitary confinement during his four-year tenure in prison for wire fraud related to the first festival. He was released in early 2022.
The 50-page plan will allegedly resurrect the event, and he said investors and other partners from around the world were on board when he pitched it to them His former partner, rapper Ja Rule, has said he will not be involved in the new festival, however, reported PEOPLE.
And King said that at first, too, but reportedly had a change of heart, according to The U.S. Sun. In February, he told the publication: "I probably would say I wish you all the luck in the world but unfortunately I can't be involved with another project like that."
King said the festival "did a number" on him and his reputation as one of Los Angeles' biggest, best event planners and added: "I don't think any of my advisors would be happy if I jumped into another project like that."
The 2017 festival had been advertised as a luxury extravaganza featuring gourmet dining and world-class acts, but what festivalgoers got instead was a line of FEMA tents serving decrepit cheese sandwiches. King also reportedly lost between $200,000 and $300,000 from the endeavour.
The Netflix documentary was a sort of revival for King, however, as Evian water offered him a sponsorship deal, and actor Ryan Reynolds enlisted the event planner's help with an advertisement campaign for his Aviation gin, which he titled "Dedication."
What led to the rekindled relationship between King and McFarland remains a mystery. The two were seen together as recently as April serving (ironically) cheap grilled cheese sandwiches at a 7th Street Burger in New York City, which they allegedly did to raise money to pay back the scammed investors from the 2017 festival.