Billy McFarland and Ja Rule’s Fyre Festival ambitions were lofty from the jump: to create “the cultural experience of the decade,” as Ja calls it in FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. The wild, juicy, shocking documentary provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Fyre Festival’s chaotic, impractical assembly and its disastrous implosion as it happened in real time.

What was Fyre Festival?

Fyre Festival promised one-of-a-kind, lavish, private island experience with impressive musical headliners and the who’s who of the modeling industry in attendance. McFarland and Ja announced the festival in December of 2016 with the help of celebrities like Kendall Jenner, who was paid $250,000 for a single promotional post on Instagram; in a campaign orchestrated by marketing company Jerry Media, many big names built up Fyre Festival’s mystique and FOMO by simultaneously posting a single orange tile. The influencer campaign resulted in 95% of the festival’s tickets being sold within 48 hours.

Who was in the Fyre Festival lineup?

The Fyre Festival lineup included Blink-182, Migos, Lil Yachty, Major Lazer, and artists from Kanye West’s GOOD Music label. None of those artists actually wound up performing at Fyre Festival.

What went wrong with Fyre Festival?

There were a number of concerns expressed early on by event planning staff, from not having adequate space to fit the number of planned attendees to the false advertisements of “VIP villas” that wound up being FEMA tents left over from 2016’s Hurricane Matthew. Word began to spread about the numerous embellishments and ill-equipped, overworked staff. An X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) account called @FireFraud tried to alert the masses to Fyre’s shortcomings prior to the event.

Additional logistical crises detailed in FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened include the scramble to set up tents, lock in a caterer, and acquire four 18-wheeler trucks’ worth of water (which led to an incredible scene in FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened you’ve got to see for yourself).

When did the world find out Fyre Festival was going awry?

In FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, an infamous photo of bread and cheese posted on X by @TrevorDeHaas is credited with playing a large part in publicizing Fyre’s dire conditions.

In the words of Mick Purzycki, Jerry Media’s CEO: “A couple of powerful models posting an orange tile (on Instagram) is essentially what built this entire festival, and then one kid with probably 400 followers posted a picture of cheese on toast that trended and essentially ripped down the festival.”

Where is Billy McFarland now?

McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison for crimes committed in the process of putting Fyre Festival together. As of March 2022, McFarland was out of prison. McFarland recently announced plans for Fyre Festival 2. No artists have been confirmed or location announced, but the initial offering of 100 tickets, sold at $499, has sold out, according to McFarland.

How can I watch FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened?

 FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is available now on Netflix.