It was meant to be the festival weekend dreams were made of…
Luxury accomadation on a private island in the Bahamas, private planes, yacht parties, a stellar line up of music acts – Fyre Festival was meant to be the ultimate VIP festival.
But despite a very convincing promo video featuring Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, the reality was quite stark – attendees were greeted with abandoned tents and old buses instead of wrist bands and private cars (which is what they actually paid for).
Quickly the festival was dubbed to have turned into ‘The Hunger Games’ with looting, fighting, no phone coverage and excessive drinking.
We tracked down the only Irish person who attended Fyre Festival, who asked to remain anonymous as he has joined a class action against the organisers.
The only Irish guy who attended the festival exclusively spoke to Goss.ie about the horrible experience, sharing exclusive footage and a shockingly true account of what really happened.
The first problem? “We were told that it was a cashless festival and to pre-load Fyre bracelets with money-so most people left behind their cash and credit cards so they wouldn’t get stolen,” the festival-goer explained.
But once attendees arrived there were no wrist bands. “This left many attendees completely helpless when everything began descending into chaos,” he continued.
“We arrived at the airport at 3:00am Thursday morning for our 5:30am flight. The emails they sent us had said that there would be someone from Fyre Festival to check us in, activate our bracelets, and give us our housing assignments prior to boarding. When we got there, there was nobody from Fyre Festival whatsoever.
Empty: Staff were hard to findÂ
“The crowd was exhausted and was getting a bit nervous that nobody was there to greet them. A few influencers were there as well, and they were in the same boat-no responses from their Fyre Festival contacts. The plane ride was awful. It was the tightest plane I’ve ever been on, not the luxury private jet we had been promised.
“Once we arrived it was pouring rain. There was a representative from the festival there who told us that some of the tents have been blown over in the storm, that we would be taken to breakfast and everything was complimentary for the day.
“It would only be a few hours before the tents were all back up, they would sort out our wristbands later, and if we weren’t happy by the end of the day they would fly us home with a full refund. We thought ‘okay’, although we’re exhausted, it’s a first year festival so we might as well give them a few hours to sort themselves.
Abandoned: Looting beganÂ
“We tried to get our luggage, but they refused and said that would be delivered to our tents and would be ready for us in a few hours. I asked how they would know whose baggage was whose. They said that we should have been given a colored tag to indicate, we tried telling them that there wasn’t anyone at the airport to do so-that fell upon deaf ears.
“There weren’t any buses, so we waited half an hour for a 30 year old bus to come take us to this resort for breakfast. The staff at the hotel were overwhelmed, and most people had to sit outside in the rain because it just couldn’t accommodate everyone.
“After a couple hours the rain began to clear and everyone had ordered a plethora of alcohol as it was ‘on the house’ for today. We spoke to a couple representatives that told us at 8:30am that the tents would all be done and we would be going there and our luggage would be waiting for us by 11:00am. Once 11:00am rolls around they tell us that things still aren’t ready, and they’re going to take us to a beach area as more fights are arriving and this resort can’t accommodate.
“We then got to this beach. I must admit it was gorgeous. But most people were getting pretty anxious at this point. Nobody from the festival was there to tell us anything or made any announcements. Some guy had a local drive him to find his luggage earlier, and he told us that our luggage was out in the rain with nobody looking after it.
Stark: The festival was nothing like it was supposed to beÂ
“He showed us a video of the site. It was in shambles. Piles of beds and furniture left out in the rain. It didn’t look like any of the tents had blown over in the rain, just that hundreds, if not thousands, of them had not been set up yet. Most people didn’t have cell service, we were in the middle of nowhere, so we couldn’t get a taxi or find different accommodation. We had to rely on the festival organizers at this point. Apparently there was another event on the island as well so everything was booked.
“Everyone was pretty helpless at this point, and extraordinarily tired as they had been up over 24 hours from travel. The drinks were free, so everyone just began drinking more and trying to enjoy what they could for the time being. Loads of rumors were flying around.
“Boats eventually were brought over, which was nice. We got to go to the pig beach etc. but by the time we got back there was no food left for lunch. Everyone was getting irritable (and very drunk), and some people with service found out through Twitter that Blink 182 just cancelled. That was when I was positive that this was going to get much worse…”
Blink 182 just pulled out of Fyre Fest. Here’s everything you need to know https://t.co/HS6Y8eKD6f
— Observer Lifestyle (@ObserverStyle) April 27, 2017
Once attendees figured out acts were starting to cancel, they got even more concerned, and the festival goer says 12 hours later buses started to bring people to the camp site, but at this stage everyone was still in their clothes from the flight and a lot had suffered sun burn.
“AÂ woman on the bus from Fyre told us that she knew things hadn’t been ideal, but “c’mon guys we’re in paradise” (This became the running joke each time something went from bad to worse).
“Along the way our bus is stopped in the middle of nowhere by three people-we are already packed, most people have others sitting on them, carry ons, etc. The three are trying to get on the bus. One person realizes that this is the Instagram influencer Sierra Skye.
“Some people were still so frustrated that they begin jeering her ‘Go back to your Villa!’ But she was obviously crying so I helped pull her and her friends up through a window so they wouldn’t be stranded. They told us that they had just seen the site, and that it was an absolute mess. They were trying to get back to their accommodations, but the organizers had put her in this old car with a random man.
“He was going 100+ mph and yelling at them. They basically had to jump out of the car when he slowed down around a corner. The pool girl was terrified that she might have been being kidnapped,” he explained.
“Everyone started yelling on the bus as we finally drove through the festival site. The ground was still littered with rain-soaked mattresses, sheets, etc. the area looked like a sewage treatment facility.
“There was a line hundreds of people long trying to get tents, there was one small stage blaring music, and absolutely nobody from the festival communicating anything. The organizers began telling people to just run and grab a tent so fights began to break out.
New dystopian book titled #fyrefestival Rich kids are tricked onto an island w/ promises of luxuries & music. Now they must fight to death.
— ThaoCat (@CatLadyThao) April 28, 2017
“People started stealing mattresses, alcohol from the bar, just everything. Loads of people were just screaming and crying.”
Eventually festival goers got their luggage, but in complete darkness they had to go through a shipping container of cases to try and find their belongings.
“There was a giant shipping container with 3-4 men in it was throwing bags from it into an angry mob of over 400 people in the dark. People were trying to climb in, people were fighting over bags, everyone had the lights on their phones on to see what was what.
“I was hit in the head with a bag, but several others were trampled in the chaos. Eventually someone higher up in the festival got up and tried to organize it so that they just handed out bags and people could search through the mess to see which was theirs,” he explained.
Once our insider and his friends found their bags they headed to the accomadation some festival staff were in, where he said “it was anarchy”. Soon their phones were dead and they were left with no cash, hoping to catch the first flight home.
Luggage pickup was great. They brought the bags in and guests got to unload them for fun. In the dark. It built character. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/0gUUBnEjUc
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 30, 2017
“Hundreds of people were outside desperately trying to figure out what the hell was going on, where the food was, where they could get water. We found one of the staff we had spoken to earlier and told them we wanted to leave and get a refund. But they kept telling us to stay.
“In the meantime we overheard the organizers conversation with several of the artists. Apparently, they had lost the artists bags on the way over and were telling the artists that they would no longer performing. The artists could either leave tonight without their bags, or they could find a tent for the night and ‘maybe’ get their bags before leaving in the morning.
“The artists were obviously furious. We were then told that we wouldn’t be able to get out that night.”
“We left and scavenged for a tent. We found one that was half put together and soaked in rain, but tried to lay down. I got service and saw others tweeting about how a tent was on fire, people had their belongings stolen, etc. So even after 35 hours of no sleep, I stayed awake.
“That was the thing-nobody from Fyre Festival had communicated anything at this point. We were all just relying on other attendees social media updates. At 12:00am we found out a plane was headed back soon. We made our way back to the organizers house and crammed in to an overloaded bus headed to the airport.
Packed: Everyone just wanted to leave
“The airport was packed with people that had found every way imaginable to get the heck out of here. We were told not everyone would fit on the flight so people began getting on edge. After about an hour we made it on the plane. After boarding at about 1:00am they kept going through the manifest. Stand up if your name is called, now stand up if your name isn’t called.
“This went on for two hours before they had us get off the flight with our passports and re-enter the plane so they could re-write all the names. After this they left us on the plane for another 4 hours with no update. After a full 6 hours on and off the plane (7:00am) they told us that we had been on the runway too long and we would have to get off and wait for the next plane.
“They then put all 200 of us in a small room in the airport, and quite literally locked us in this room without anyone from the airport or the festival. Â There was still no food or water.
Passed out: Attendees had no food or water
“Someone eventually passed out from the heat and no water, so they brought in police that nearly started a fight with some of the guys begging him to help the passed out attendee.
“30 minutes later they finally passed out water to everyone locked in.”
By 9.30am the next morning, the Dubliner and his friends were finally able to get a flight and headed back to Miami.
Locked: The Dubliner and his friends were kept inside the airportÂ
Throughout the unfolding drama, many took to social media to slam the “rich kids” who were “gullable” enough to attend the event. With some saying the whole event was a “social experiment” to teach wealthy kids about the refugee crisis.
However, the Dubliner says most people he met along the way were hard working people who had saved to attend the festival that promised them a weekend in paradise.
“I know everyone’s making jokes, but honestly it was not safe, and it was not funny. Most of the people we spoke with had paid $500-$2000 for their ticket, and they had saved up to buy it.
#FyreFestival has to be a social experiment. Surely. “How gullible are rich millennials: a case study of the use of influencers in Exuma”
— karalena. (@SimplyKaralena) April 28, 2017
“It would be the same price if you booked an all-inclusive trip to Mexico or another destination. And you’d be just as shocked if you arrived to the same conditions. There were articles promoting the festival in major mainstream magazines and papers.
“Most people going in to the festival obviously had an idea that it was not going to be as glamorous as advertised, but not a single person there thought it would have turned in to the dangerous and chaotic hell that it did.
“Most people were not these ultra rich snobby kids, they were just kids that had saved up and were hoping to enjoy a cool new festival. Regardless of who they are or how much money they had, nobody deserves to go through that,” he added.
While now class actions are forming, and some are actually personally suing rapper Ja Rule, who organised the event, organisers have tried to intice people to instead come back next year for ‘VIP tickets’ instead of asking for a refund.
It’s believed the class action isn’t only looking to sue organisers, but also the influencers who promoted the event falsley.
However it looks like Ja Rule and co won’t be allowed host anything ever again, well not in paradise anyway…
