Despair for humanity


Hey, remember the Fyre Festival?

The original festival promised luxury villas, a lineup with Blink-182 and Migos and advertised with models like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. But when people got there, they found no Jenner, no Biebers, no Blink-182; just “FEMA tents” and stacks of construction materials.

It was legendarily bad, so awful that two documentaries were made about it, and the organizer, Billy McFarland, went to prison over it.

Billy McFarland is out of prison already, and guess what? He’s planning a Fyre Festival II.

After teasing the follow-up festival earlier this year, 100 presale tickets went up for grabs on Aug. 21 for $499 apiece (technically $549.89 after taxes and fees). Tickets will continue to increase incrementally, with the last round selling for $7,999 each. For $1,500 less, you could get four VIP tickets to Coachella with accommodations in a “ready-to-go Lake Eldorado Tent.”

Those 100 tickets have sold out, according to an email from organizers and McFarland’s social media, despite the event having no lineup of artists, exact date or location.

I don’t think prison reformed Billy at all, and why should it? The marks are still out there, happy to be fleeced some more. They haven’t learned anything either.

That didn’t stop Victoria Medvedenko, 20, a nursing student in Arizona, from buying a ticket. In screenshots of a receipt shared with The Washington Post, it shows Medvedenko purchased one of the “The First 100” tickets for $549.89.

“I really don’t think Billy would want to go back to jail and he’s had a lot of time to think about it and prepare this time,” she said of her decision. “And I think the first time around it had a lot of potential. He just didn’t have enough time or the right mind-set.”

We can’t get people to support climate action that threatens their lives, but sure, we’ve got people who’ll spend hundreds of dollars on a ticket and thousands of dollars for travel, all for the promise of a bad cheese sandwich.

Comments

  1. Walter Solomon says

    The marks are still out there

    Sometimes it’s alright to the blame the victim.

  2. raven says

    A fool and their money are soon parted.

    .1. Burning man.
    Sep 28, 2022 — Your Burning Man ticket … The general sale ticket price this year was $425 per person, that’s if you can get one! There are other sale options …
    This is for 9 days. So, $48/day.
    I’ve never been to Burning Man but accounts are online so you know what it is like.

    .2. There are summer festivals and rock concerts everywhere and they aren’t hard to find.
    I’ve been to several this summer and tickets ranged from $40 plus parking to free.

    These have the advantage of usually being well organized and they actually exist.

  3. wzrd1 says

    Wasn’t aware of this one. But, after review, what’s truly damning is, his sentencing and conviction wasn’t really about his ripping off people, but for ripping off a couple of large corporations.
    Not atypical, as I’m aware of instances where someone was sent to prison for stealing cable services, who was sentenced to a lengthier sentence than a mere murderer.
    So, obviously, it’s worse to steal from a large corporation than to simply murder a nobody. I imagine that soon, the GOP will push through a law that makes only corporations people and the walking meat declared non-persons.

  4. says

    I wonder how many victims of the original Fyre Festival would attend a Fyre Them From a Cannon Festival, with the folks who ran the original getting “Fyred.”

  5. Artor says

    Anyone who gives this dip$hit a single penny is a sucker who deserves to be parted with their money. I don’t think we can call him a scam artist when his scams are so blatant and ham-fisted.

  6. Peter B says

    Last chance! Only $795.00! Find my PayPal from my FTB login quickly or face losing out. Your time to respond is limited. DO NOT WAIT!

  7. says

    @5 wzrd1 wrote: soon, the GOP will push through a law that makes only corporations people and the walking meat declared non-persons.
    I reply: I’m sure that if ovenmitt Romney is elected, that will be his first edict as ’emperor’. And, we non-corporate underlings will have a mandatory amount we must buy from the corporations each year, just like the mandated 10% to the Lying Deceitful Scumbag church.

  8. HidariMak says

    We’ve seen the gullible keep praising Trump over the past 8 years, and keep paying him money. We’ve seen various leaders of the gullible repeatedly praise Trump as the second coming of Jesus Christ, even though Trump mirrors the seven deadly sins and the anti-Christ to a great extent. Morons, fools, and idiots make up a larger percent of the population than what’s been commonly believed for a while now. A second Fyre Festival from the same organizers doesn’t even warrant a single raised eyebrow from me.

  9. robro says

    raven @ #4 — Burning Man is at risk this year because of the rains. As one report puts it, “Black Rock City still looks like a wet mess.” The gates are still closed according to another and folks are being asked to delay their arrival.

  10. raven says

    robro @ #11

    SFGate

    Do not drive to Gerlach’: Burning Man gate still closed due to Hilary storm flooding
    By Amy Graff Updated Aug 22, 2023 12:58 p.m.

    LATEST Aug. 22, 11:15 a.m. Burning Man organizers said Tuesday that the gate will stay closed until noon on Wednesday, Aug. 23, due to flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary.

    “If you were planning to travel to BRC with a Work Access Pass before then, delay your plans,” organizers said in social media. “DO NOT drive to Gerlach, you will be turned around — there are no rooms available.”

    Aug. 21, 2:21 p.m. The gate for entering the Burning Man grounds in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert was closed Sunday after unusual summer rains from Tropical Storm Hilary caused muddy conditions.

    On Sunday, organizers said that it could take 12-plus hours “for the playa to dry, so please be patient.”

    This year’s festival runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, but many attendees go the week before to set up their camps.

    The National Weather Service said the region has measured about three-tenths of an inch to a half-inch of rain in the past 24 hours as remnants from Tropical Storm Hilary have pushed into Nevada.

    I didn’t know that.
    This is left over from cyclone Hilary.

    I wasn’t going to go this year anyway.
    There is still time to fix the event though.
    They are saying the playa dries out fast and Burning Man itself doesn’t start until August 27th.
    The weather report for Black Rock City is sunny and 90s F (32+ C) for the next week so they will probably make it.