CRAIG BROWN: As conman behind ‘the greatest party that never happened’ has another go… The festival of fun that was pure misery
There is a handy French phrase, nostalgie de la boue. It means literally ‘nostalgia for mud’.
It suggests that many of us, especially the well-heeled, harbour a secret yearning for degradation, particularly if we can spend a lot of money in the process.
After all, why else would anyone spend $450,000 to crouch in cramped conditions on a Virgin Galactic space flight on a journey into the unknown when, for a fraction of the price, they could undergo a similar experience with Southern rail?
Last week, a U.S. entrepreneur called Billy McFarland announced his forthcoming plans.
‘Since 2016, Fyre has been the most talked-about festival in the world,’ he said, adding: ‘Fyre is about people from around the world coming together to pull off the impossible.’ He then announced a brand new festival for December 2024.
Entrepreneur Billy McFarland, 31, has announced plans for Fyre festival II for December 2024
The original Fyre in 2017 is remembered as the very worst of all festivals. As island adventures go, it is outclassed only by Lord of the Flies, writes CRAIG BROWN
‘This time we have incredible support. I’ll be doing what I love while working with the best logistical and infrastructure partners . . . we look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build Fyre and Fyre Festival 2 into the island adventure of a lifetime.’
The original Fyre in 2017 is remembered as the very worst of all festivals, in what is, quite literally, a crowded field. As island adventures go, it is outclassed only by Lord Of The Flies.
In 2017, festival-goers were promised rides in private jets to a Caribbean island, luxury villas, gourmet meals cooked by celebrity chefs and supermodels lounging around sun-soaked beaches in their bikinis — and all for anything up to $12,000.
But with some 8,000 tickets sold, punters were disappointed after they stepped off their packed planes and arrived at the storm-swept festival site. There were disaster-relief tents where there should have been villas, cheese sandwiches where there should have been gourmet meals and mosquitoes where there should have been supermodels. There was no running water, no assistance and, worst of all, no escape.
It turned out that McFarland had devoted most of his time and money to producing a glamorous video advertisement and paying ‘influencers’ to promote the festival, leaving precious little to spare for the event itself. To save money, he had cut back on toilets, accommodation and food. Rightly sensing the worst, rock bands scheduled to play pulled out at the last minute.
McFarland was duly sentenced to six years in jail and ordered to pay $26 million to those he had defrauded. But frauds have an extraordinary knack of bouncing back. They are nothing if not energetic.
In the spirit of the times, they like to kick off with an apology, believing it demonstrates authenticity. These days, to update the old Elton John number, sorry seems to be the easiest word. In a TikTok video at the weekend, conducted, for no good reason, in a white dressing gown, McFarland, 32, enthused: ‘I am incredibly sorry for my collective actions.’ He added: ‘I’ve always sought — and dreamed — of accomplishing incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good.’
Promotional videos for the new Fyre festival showed bikini-clad stars frolicking in crystal-clear turquoise waters
Needless to say, McFarland — freed after four years in jail — then spoke of his ‘journey’, which is also an obligatory part of the vocabulary of the conman. He said he has compiled a ’50-page plan’ and promises to ‘make the impossible happen’. Coincidentally, this echoes the slogan used by Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic — ‘turning the impossible into the inevitable’.
The first batch of tickets for the second Fyre festival is already on sale for $499 each, with a promise that prices will rise to $7,999. McFarland says he has found ‘the best partners in the world to allow me to be me while executing Fyre’s vision to the highest level’.
How many will cough up? My guess is thousands.
Some 200,000 people flock to Glastonbury each year not in spite of the mud and the rain and the sordid loos and the crowds and the tents and the noise and the sleepless nights, but because of them. It all goes by the name of ‘atmosphere’.
My guess is that many of those who watched two nightmarish documentaries about the original Fyre festival — billed by Netflix as ‘the greatest party that never happened’ — will now yearn to be present at the next. For those who have everything, there is nothing as intoxicating as nostalgie de la boue.
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