Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland is pushing back after Mexican government officials poured cold water on his plans to resuscitate his flailing Fyre Fest 2.
Hours after the city council of Playa del Carmen, a seaside resort town along Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce the event was not happening, McFarland issued a statement of his own calling media reports of the news “inaccurate” and “based on misinformation.”
The disagreement began Wednesday night (April 2) when an account for the Playa del Carmen City Hall posted a statement that, when translated to English, claimed no event called Fyre Fest 2 was happening in the coastal city.
“In response to rumors about a supposed event called ‘Fyre 2,’ we inform you that no event of that name will be held in Playa del Carmen,” the statement read. “After a thorough review, there is no record or planning of any such event in the municipality.”
That led McFarland to fire back today, taking to Instagram to claim that “Fyre has been working directly with the government of Playa del Carmen and their officials since March 5, 2025, to ensure a safe and successful event.” McFarland then shared about a dozen documents on the festival’s Instagram account detailing its work with Playa del Carmen government officials to secure the proper permits for the festival, which has long been billed as a redemption project for McFarland following his disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas. For that event, ticket holders were promised a luxury destination music festival only to find, on arrival at Great Exuma island, that the event they were promised was completely unrealized.
McFarland ended up serving a four-year prison sentence for misleading investors about the project. Since his release in 2022, he has promised to stage a makeup event to clean up his image and help repay the $26 million he owes his victims in restitution.
As part of Friday’s document dump, McFarland shared an email from someone with a gobiernodesolidaridad.gob.mx email address — a URL tied to the Playa del Carmen municipal government — that he called an “official invitation letter” designed to be sent to artists’ representatives to help procure talent for the festival. (The name of the email’s sender was redacted.)
“We are actively working with Fyre Festival 2 organizers to ensure a successful event from May 30 – June 2, 2025,” the email reads. “The event organizers have secured some of the best beach clubs, villas and experiential locations.” McFarland also included copies of alleged event authorization permits from Luis Armando Herrera Quiam, secretary general of Playa del Carmen, along with an alleged film permit and environmental impact assessment.
What the back and forth means for the future of Fyre Fest 2 remains to be seen. McFarland had previously announced plans to stage the event on Isla Mujeres, a popular tourist destination in the Caribbean Sea about a 30-minute ferry ride from Cancun, located in the state of Quintana Roo. But in March, tourism officials there told several media outlets that no record of the festival existed.
Tickets for Fyre Fest 2 start at $1,400 a piece for a four-day pass (airfare and hotel not included) and go as high as $25,000 for artist passes. On the high end, fans can also purchase a $1 million package for eight people that McFarland says includes access to luxury villas, a private marina with high-end yachts and a private jet to and from Cancun.
