Can Billy McFarland Pull Off Fyre Fest Round Two, or Is Another Disaster on the Horizon?

Fyre Festival is making a comeback next spring, and despite its infamous failure in 2017, founder Billy McFarland is confident this time will be different. The much-anticipated Fyre Festival II is scheduled for April 25-28, 2025, and will take place on a privately-owned island off the coast of Mexico.

McFarland, the man behind the original debacle, is hoping to redeem himself. After spending four years in prison on fraud charges related to the first festival, he’s reemerged with ambitious plans to revive Fyre Fest—and insists he’s learned from his past mistakes.

Speaking to NBC News, McFarland, now 32, reflected on his disastrous first attempt. “The first time, I was 24, pulling together a festival with a few friends. Now, I’m doing it the right way,” he said. “We have the chance to embrace the storm and steer into all the chaos. If it’s done right, Fyre can be an annual festival that really changes the industry.”

The 2017 Fyre Festival promised luxury villas, gourmet food, and star-studded performances, only to deliver disaster relief tents, sad cheese sandwiches, and no music at all.

But McFarland insists Fyre Fest II will be different. This time, he plans to host 3,000 attendees, with ticket prices ranging from $1,400 to a jaw-dropping $1.1 million for the most extravagant packages, which include luxury yachts and island-hopping adventures.

McFarland says he’s hired an experienced festival production company to handle logistics like stages and sanitation, areas where the first festival famously failed. However, he’s keeping key details under wraps, declining to name the production company or the specific island location. He also admitted that no artists have been booked yet, but claims that further information will be revealed soon.

Despite his prison sentence and ongoing efforts to repay $26 million in restitution for the failed 2017 event, McFarland is betting on the intrigue and notoriety surrounding Fyre Fest to draw in attendees. In fact, the first batch of 100 presale tickets, priced at $499, sold out quickly in August, even though the festival website provided no

As the countdown to Fyre Festival II begins, it remains to be seen whether McFarland can truly turn the page on one of the biggest failures in festival history—or if the sequel will be just as chaotic as the original.