They were promised ‘curated culinary pop-ups’ and a ‘welcoming abode’ — and some paid over $12,000 for a “VIP” package to the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas.
But these poor little rich kids, beckoned by the siren song of supermodel hosts and promoters Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajowski, were instead met with plain cheese sandwiches fit for peasants and sparse tents packed together on a garbage-strewn campsite that one attendee likened to a refugee camp. According to the Daily Mail, attendees said they found “rat droppings” and feral dogs roaming the campgrounds.
Soo…I went to Fyre Festival. https://t.co/toU1rgqSKD pic.twitter.com/OfVryMjbhK
— Myles Tanzer (@mylestanzer) April 28, 2017
Indeed, dispatches from festival attendees provide a stark-contrast to Fyre’s promotional video, which touted a once-in-lifetime experience on a private island “previously owned by Pablo Escobar” where models would ride yachts and jet skis arm-and-arm and play with baby pigs on white-sand beaches.
The “luxury” music and art festival, co-organized by Ja-Rule, was scheduled for two consecutive weekends in late April and early May, but following a disastrous opening night Thursday, the festival has been indefinitely postponed — after an untold number of ticketholders already arrived, and paid a pretty penny to get there.
Due to unforeseen and extenuating circumstances, Fyre Festival has been fully postponed (con't)
— Fyre Festival (@fyrefestival) April 28, 2017
After assessing the situation this morning and looking at best options for our guests, we cannot move forward as we hoped we could (con't)
— Fyre Festival (@fyrefestival) April 28, 2017
At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get all travelers home safely
— Fyre Festival (@fyrefestival) April 28, 2017
According to the BBC, festival-goers arrived Thursday night to find an unfinished campsite offering accommodations nowhere near resembling the advertised “geodesic domes,” where they were served flimsy cheese sandwiches. Blink-182, the scheduled headliners, cancelled their performance. Many attendees were reportedly separated from their luggage, which was later tossed from a shipping container under cover of darkness.
This is how Fyre Fest handles luggage. Just drop it out of a shipping container. At night. With no lights. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/X5CdZRyJWo
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
The above Twitter account belongs to a Raleigh-based reporter who has been documenting the failed festival. According to his most recent updates, a plane full of Fyre Festival attendees landed in Miami late Friday morning after a treacherous journey, during which they were locked inside a hot Bahamas airport for an unspecified amount of time, causing one passenger to pass out.
They finally opened the doors to let some air in. The guy is ok. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/D7j5qtzsGi
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Twitter is also having a field day with a fawning Bustle story published in December, painting the upcoming Fyre Festival as a Spring Break nirvana. “The lodging is a dream come true,” the story claims, adding:
If you’ve outgrown festivals where you skip showering for an entire weekend and eat questionable food from carnival style vendors, then you need to get yourself to Fyre Cay this spring.
The story has since been updated with details about the festival’s cancellation, but that hasn’t stopped Twitter from mocking it.
wow, this sounds Neat @bustle!! https://t.co/5AigAqSLCJ @almur
— CHUD Webb (@popespeed) April 28, 2017
the bustle article about the fyre festival is honestly the best thing I've ever read, it's better than Ulysses
— nuanced opinion guy (@charles_kinbote) April 28, 2017
This promoted content on @bustle didn't age wellhttps://t.co/oQiPDdEMn3
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) April 28, 2017
Photo: YouTube screenshot