• Fyre Festival 2 is a go, according to the original event's founder Billy McFarland.
• The original Fyre Festival was a disaster, resulting in McFarland serving several years in prison for financial crimes.
• The new festival is set to happen in Isla Mujeres from May 30 to June 2.

It's been eight years since the disastrous Fyre Festival, but founder Billy McFarland insists that a second attempt is still in the works, though details are scant.

"FYRE 2 is real. My dream is finally becoming a reality," McFarland told NBC's "Today" show in an interview that aired on Monday.

The original Fyre Festival took place on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas. "Took place" is loose parlance — sure, people arrived in the Bahamas for a music festival. But they were famously greeted with catastrophe: The promised "luxury lodging" was actually tents, "gourmet food" was haphazard cheese sandwiches, and the artists set to perform simply weren't there.

The infamous event was chronicled in two dueling documentaries: Netflix's "FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" and Hulu's "Fyre Fraud." McFarland himself was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges tied to the festival. He was released in March 2022 after serving less than four years.

McFarland first announced his intent to engineer a second Fyre Festival in an April 2023 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Then in August, McFarland announced in a video uploaded to his personal YouTube channel that tickets were on sale despite no details about what the event would entail. McFarland claimed his first batch of 100 tickets sold out.

More than a year after McFarland's initial announcement, plenty of questions still remain about the festival and the founder still has limited answers.

Here's everything we know about Fyre Festival 2.

Why is Billy McFarland organizing another Fyre Festival?

After the disastrous results of the original festival, McFarland seems determined to redeem himself.

"FYRE 2 really isn't about the past, and it's not really about me. It's about taking the vision, which is strong," McFarland told the "Today" show.

McFarland spent time in solitary confinement in 2020 and 2021 after participating in an interview on the podcast "Dumpster Fyre," his attorney told Business Insider. It was there, McFarland said, that he dreamed up his new venture.

"It really all started during this seven-month stint in solitary confinement," he said in the Fyre Festival 2 announcement video. "I wrote out this 50-page plan of how I would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre, and how I would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen, but 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."

McFarland also said in an April 2023 X post, after announcing Fyre Festival 2, that it was "in the best interest" of the people to whom he owes money for him to continue working.

McFarland was released from federal prison in March 2022 and transferred into "community confinement" in New York. Entertainment Weekly reported that he's since been on supervised release.

When and where is Fyre Festival 2?

Fyre Festival 2 will take place in Isla Mujeres, Mexico from May 30 to June 2.

It's not surprising that the festival won't take place in the Bahamas again. The country's Ministry of Tourism previously told CBS News in a statement that the "government of The Bahamas will not endorse or approve any event associated with" McFarland, saying that he's "considered to be a fugitive" in the nation.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, conducted in June 2024 and published in September 2024, McFarland said that his festival partners would be scouting locations in Honduras, Belize, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, and Panama. The Journal reported that discussions about the festival taking place in Honduras have been ongoing since February, Coral View Beach Resort owner Heath Miller said.

This time around, McFarland will be working with a production company that bought a 51% stake in Fyre Media, a talent management company, and a US festival operator. An Instagram post shared by McFarland on Monday revealed that the three-day festival will be produced by live event producer Lostnights. The partners SoldOut and FriendlySky will handle ticketing and hospitality packages for the guests.

McFarland will be more hands-on with the festival's marketing and promotional events.

"I'm sure many people think I'm crazy for doing this again. But I feel I'd be crazy not to do it again," McFarland said in a statement included in his Instagram post. "After years of reflection and now thoughtful planning, the new team and I have amazing plans for FYRE 2. The adventure seekers who trust the vision and take the leap will help make history. Thank you to my partners for the second chance."

How to get Fyre Festival 2 tickets

People interested in attending the festival should be prepared to shell out a hefty amount of money, even for the cheapest tickets. On Monday, McFarland announced that 2,000 tickets ranging from $1,400 for general access to $1.1 million for the highest tier were now on sale.

When the first batch of tickets was released in 2023, the festival website and McFarland himself said that tickets had already sold out — but it's difficult to verify that claim. At least a couple of people seem to have genuinely bought tickets, though: The Washington Post and CBS News both spoke to Victoria Medvedenko, who purchased tickets for her and her boyfriend at $549.89 each.

Medvedenko, a 20-year-old nursing student, told the Washington Post she wasn't very concerned about how the festival might turn out. "I'm sure I'll get my money back so I don't really see it as much of a loss either way."

Her boyfriend, Cooper Sinkiawic, told CBS News the couple's biggest worry was whether major acts would be willing to sign on to the festival. While they're "optimistic," he said, they're not ruling out the possibility of "some cheese sandwiches."

McFarland announced in a since-deleted statement on his Instagram in August 2023 that all revenue from ticket sales would be held in escrow until the announcement of the final date — meaning that a third party will hold them until that condition is satisfied. In his interview with the Journal, McFarland reiterated that the money from the aforementioned sales remains in escrow.

In a statement provided to Business Insider on February 24, 2025, Fyre 2's head of sales said, "We've already sold over $1,500,000 of tickets."

Who's on the lineup for Fyre Festival 2?

There isn't one yet. So, again: TBD!

"We're going to have artists across electronic, hip hop, pop, and rock," McFarland told the "Today" show. "However, it's not just music. We might have a professional skateboarder do a demonstration. We might have an MMA champion teach you techniques in the morning."

McFarland skirted around follow-up questions regarding the lineup before saying that the festival still hasn't secured any artists yet but he's hopeful.

His Instagram post said that there would be "international and emerging talent, taking guests on boundary-pushing excursions by day and uniting for intimate beach-side performances by night."

As for other events, McFarland said in his previous announcement video that he was working with "one of the biggest and best TV companies in the world" to produce yet another documentary titled "After the Fyre." He also said he was working with "one of the biggest production companies" on a deal to produce "Fyre Festival: The Broadway Musical," which is admittedly much more intriguing than the prospect of another Fyre Festival itself.

McFarland said there will also be pop-ups and events "around the world" in the lead-up to the festival — at least four, per the festival site.

Only time will tell if everything manifests — and McFarland knows his reputation for follow-through isn't the best.

"I think it's always a risk," he told the "Today" show. "You're taking a risk because I made a lot of bad decisions and messed up the first festival. Until it's experienced, there is a risk component to it."

Palmer Haasch contributed to an earlier version of this story.