THE EXUMAS, Bahamas — The promotional hype for the inaugural Fyre Festival, which was set to take place on two weekends April 28-30 and May 5-7 2017 on an island in the Bahamas, promised a sun-kissed paradise with bikini-clad models, first-class accommodations, gourmet dining and non-stop music from headliners including Blink-182, G.O.O.D. Music, Major Lazer and more.
But when the first wave of the anticipated 7,000 ticket-holders arrived on April 27, what they found instead was something akin to a disaster relief camp — dome tents with dirt floors, “cuisine” comprised of sliced cheese sandwiches and bags of Doritos. Many, who immediately sought a flight back to Miami, chronicled the delays on social media as they endured an ordeal returning to the U.S.
Fyre Festival organizers, led by rapper Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland, issued the following statement:
Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas.
Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests. At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get everyone off of Great Exuma and home safely as quickly as we can.
We ask that guests currently on-island do not make their own arrangements to get to the airport as we are coordinating those plans. We are working to place everyone on complimentary charters back to Miami today; this process has commenced and the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority.
The festival is being postponed until we can further assess if and when we are able to create the high- quality experience we envisioned.
We ask for everyone’s patience and cooperation during this difficult time as we work as quickly and safely as we can to remedy this unforeseeable situation. We will continue to provide regular updates via email to our guests and via our official social media channels as they become available.
—The Fyre Festival Team
The Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism, based in Nassau, had issued a welcoming and optimistic press release as recently as March 6, promising “an unforgettable trip to the Exumas,” now faced a backlash as ticket holders who spent thousands of dollars to attend were documenting the problems they encountered on social media.
“We were extremely disappointed in the way events unfolded yesterday with the Fyre Festival,” the Ministry of Tourism tweeted on April 28. Although acknowledging that the ministry had worked to help promote the event, the agency stressed that it was never an official sponsor. “The event organizers assured is that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event but clearly they did not have the capacity to execute an event of this scale.”
