Billy McFarland, the disgraced founder of Fyre Festival, is teasing his next move.Ad 0:00 Click for sound 0:00 / 0:00 In an Instagram video posted Monday, McFarland said he is “retiring from rage-baiting” before promising a formal announcement to follow.
“This announcement is going to have some elements of the past, a modern twist and a budget bigger than Fyre 1,” he said.McFarland did not name a location or date for his next endeavor, only that it would outspend the disastrous festival that ultimately landed him in prison.
The ill-fated 2017 event on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma raised more than $24 million from investors and advertised a lineup of over 30 acts, including a reported $500,000 booking for Blink-182, none of whom performed.Its promotion plan included sponsored content from a number of high-profile influencers including Kendall Jenner, who was reportedly paid $250,000 for an Instagram post, before the project collapsed and left a number of attendees stranded.
McFarland ultimately served four years of a six-year sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud.He owed over $26 million as part of his plea deal and was also barred for life from serving as a director of a public company.
As EDM.com previously reported, McFarland’s bid for redemption, Fyre Festival II, collapsed in 2025 after its planned Playa del Carmen run lost government support within days of going public.He subsequently sold the Fyre IP and stepped back from the brand.
He than staged a boutique festival, PHNX, on the Honduran island of Utila, a 400-guest event at the that included performances by French Montana, Bobby Shmurda, Slim Jxmmi and MADDS.This past weekend, McFarland followed with BZM, an event in Turks and Caicos organized in partnership with the territory’s acting Premier, Jamell Robinson.
As for his next play, McFarland characterized the move as the culmination o...