Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is selling brand

Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland announced on Wednesday that he and his team are selling the festival’s brand amid scrutiny surrounding the second version of the event.

Fyre Festival 2, which was scheduled to take place in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico next month, from May 30 to June 2, was McFarland’s second attempt at hosting the multi-day music festival.

McFarland served four years in prison for financial crimes after organizing the event in 2017 that promised attendees world-class music acts and entertainment but ended up scamming people out of thousands of dollars.

Fyre Festival founder Bill McFarland selling brand

What they're saying:

The founder released a statement letting fans know that the last two years have been a commitment to finishing what he started and making things right following the first festival’s outcome, but he said that the event needs a team more experienced than him to get the second event over the finish line.

"This brand is bigger than any one person and bigger than what I’m able to do on my own," McFarland wrote in a press release. "It’s a movement. And it deserves a team with scale, experience, and infrastructure to realize its potential."

What's next:

McFarland said that he and his team are selling the trademarks, intellectual property, media reach and cultural capital associated with Fyre to an operator who can execute and "fully realize its vision" for the festival. 

On the Fyre website, there's now an "auction" tab for the proposed sale.

Fyre Festival 2 ‘officially postponed’

Dig deeper:

Last week, the ticketing company that partnered with Fyre Festival 2 told Fox News Digital that the do-over event had been "officially postponed" just a week after its organizers promised a successful event.

"It is our understanding that the organizers of Fyre Festival 2 have officially postponed the event. At this time, no new date or location has been announced," SoldOut.com, which is listed as a Fyre Festival 2 partner on the event's website, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "All customers who purchased tickets directly through SOLDOUT.COM have been issued full refunds. Our commitment to customer satisfaction is reflected in our 100% Money-Back Guarantee, which applies to all events on our platform."

Earlier this month, Fyre Festival organizers fired back at the Playa del Carmen's statement saying the Mexican city's government had no knowledge of the event.

RELATED: Fyre Festival 2 'postponed' after Mexico plans derailed, ticket vendor issues refunds

"FYRE has been working directly with the government of Playa del Carmen (PDC) and their officials since March 5, 2025, to ensure a safe and successful event," organizers said.

McFarland also posted a video of a press conference he and his team held in Playa del Carmen on March 28, which included government representatives from the area. 

McFarland, who has been out of prison since 2022, has promised to deliver Fyre Festival for real this time, dubbing the return event Fyre Festival 2. 

Tickets for Fyre Festival 2, which was scheduled to take place between May 30 and June 2 in Mexico, start at $1,400 per person for general admission and go up from there. The most expensive ticket sells for more than $1 million and offers private air and yacht travel, luxury villa accommodations and festival access over four days to eight people.

Fyre Festival 2017 outcome

The backstory:

In 2017, Fyre Festival guests arrived in the Bahamas to find bare-bones tents when they were promised luxury accommodations; cheap, boxed meals when they were promised a high-end culinary experience; unclean port-o-potties; and canceled music acts that they paid to see over the course of the festival.

The original Fyre Fest promised music acts including Blink 182, Migos and other artists; celebrity model attendees, including the Hadid sisters and Emily Ratajkowski; luxury accommodations and fine food, with tickets ranging from $1,200 to over $100,000. 

After the festival's failure, it went viral on social media when Hulu and Netflix published documentaries about the failed beach bash, making the #fyrefraud hashtag go viral at the time.

The festival reached a settlement with 277 ticket holders in 2021, when it was ordered to pay each recipient an award of $7,220.