Demand high for second batch of Fyre Festival II tickets, Billy McFarland insists

A second batch of tickets for next year’s Fyre Festival II went on sale earlier this week. Founder Billy McFarland claimed yesterday that applications for the 168 passes currently on offer are worth over three million.

An initial batch of 100 tickets quickly sold out last month. This despite the fact that very few details have yet been announced about the event. Oh, and of course, the fact the first edition was the most disastrous festival of all time and McFarland went to jail for fraud following its collapse. But, whatever, people still wanted to fork out $499 each for those initial passes. Well, 100 people did.

With a second batch of tickets going on sale this week, McFarland is apparently keen for people to know that demand is high. As are the prices, which have risen sharply since the first release.

General admission tickets - of which another 100 have been made available - now cost $2500. Above that, 50 VIP passes are available, which will set you back $5000. What if you really have money to burn though? Well, how about an Artist Pass, which costs $50,000. What does an Artist Pass get you? The website doesn’t say. I have given you literally all the information there is about it.

There are just ten Artist Passes available, because surely there can’t be that many people out there dumb enough to part with $50,000 for a ticket with little more information than a name that suggests you might - maybe - be able to go backstage or something. And that’s probably why there are only eight of the top tier tickets.

What, you thought the $50,000 Artist Pass was the top tier? How foolish you are. Just as you would be if you gave Billy fucking McFarland $250,000 for what he’s calling PROMETHEUS Passes. What does that get you?

I think you know the answer to this question. No. Fucking. Idea. Although in Greek mythology Prometheus did save his son from a flood that wiped out the rest of humanity, so that bodes well.

Registering for tickets does not guarantee entry. Purchases require approval from the organisers, although it is not entirely clear how it is decided who gets to go and who doesn't

“Since dropping the second batch of pre-sale tickets yesterday afternoon, we've received applications for $3,395,000 worth of tickets”, McFarland tweeted yesterday. “Everyone wants to be Jack Sparrow for a weekend”.

“Everyone” is quite a loose term, there. Even if there have only been applications for the cheapest tickets, that means at most 1395 people have registered their interest. It’s not exactly breaking the internet.

As it stands, the total value of all the tickets on offer is $3.5 million, so it’s not a sell out yet either. But let’s not forget that eight of those tickets cost a quarter of a million dollars each.

Fyre Festival II is set to take place on 6 Dec 2024 somewhere in the Caribbean. If you buy a ticket, you also get access to “Fyre pop-ups, experiences and the Fyre crew community”. Money well spent, I think everyone would agree. Now, where’s the $250,000 I left lying around?