Rich concertgoers expecting a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas this weekend discovered a crisis scene when they reached the festival grounds. The first-annual Fyre Festival, organized by rapper Ja Rule and some tech entrepreneur, turned out to be an unmitigated disaster — despite Instagram models and bona fide “influencers” like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid promoting the luxury get away for weeks.
People who bought tickets to the festival — including those who spent up to $12,000 for VIP packages — took to social media on Thursday to send distress signals from the island of Exumas.
First bad sign: the island was advertised as private, but a Sandals resort was just down the beach.
Unverified reports on the scene claimed that the festival’s organizers would not let attendees visit the camp site, which featured half-built tents that resembled a refugee camp. There was also a low supply of food and water.
Stuck at #fyrefestival trying to leave for the last 8 hours. barley any food or water or security or electricity pic.twitter.com/jHPMnJw5gx
— Lamaan (@LamaanElGallal) April 28, 2017
The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/I8d0UlSNbd
— Tr3vor (@tr3vorx) April 28, 2017
To make matters worse, festival-goers who reached the island did not immediately receive their luggage upon arrival. Fyre Festival eventually decided to start randomly dumping baggages into the 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 Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
Fyre Festival promised a luxury experience equipped with all the best amenities. But the event failed on all fronts.
This sums up Fyre Festival. #fyre #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/x4xcFBL8Yg
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
A view of the luxury food court with some luxury school bus transportation at Fyre Festival. #fyre #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/XL3PtRw8q0
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
These are the secure lockers at Fyre Fest. They forgot to tell us we needed locks. #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/Tqyjqbg2Gy
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
One Fyre Festival attendee dispatched that one of his fellow companions had found a conch shell amidst the chaos. Once he started blowing into it, everyone apparently dubbed him their leader.
The organizers of the festival wrote in an Instagram post early Friday that “things got off to an unexpected start” on day one of the festival. The event was officially postponed and organizers canceled all inbound charter flights to the island. In a post, organizers said that they are still working diligently to accommodate everyone stranded on their festival grounds.
