In 2017, the internet became abuzz when word spread about Fyre Festival, a luxury music festival on the tropical island of Great Exuma. What was supposed to be a festival unlike any other turned into a disaster unlike any other. The top-billed musical acts had not shown. People who spent thousands on tickets were met with lacking accommodations and a Lord of the Flies-like chaotic atmosphere of primal survival. How did this epic failure happen? The answers will be in the upcoming Netflix documentary FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened from director Chris Smith, the filmmaker behind the Netflix documentary Jim & Andy. Today Netflix unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming documentary which is set to land on the streaming platform on January 18, 2019.
FYRE will tell just how entrepreneur Billy McFarland was able to coax rapper Ja Rule into helping stage what was intended to be a wild weekend of music and models on an island once inhabited by infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The money was pouring in and tickets sold quickly at the promise of a festival with the finest amenities featuring a team of supermodels and celebrities as special guests. Once everyone arrived at Fyre Festival, though, they realized they were sold a bill of bad goods. The festival was cancelled and McFarland was forced to face a number of lawsuits and criminal charges accusing him of fraud. Meanwhile, Ja Rule was forced to distance himself from his one-time business partner in an infamous fiasco.
One member of the Fyre Festival marketing team emailed, “Let’s just do it and be legends, man.” Boy, oh boy, he had no idea just how right he really was. The legend of Fyre Festival will unveil a new chapter in its dubious place in history when Netflix releases FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened on January 18, 2019.
The official synopsis for FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Was:
An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival. Created by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, Fyre was promoted as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas featuring bikini-clad supermodels, A-List musical performances and posh amenities. Guests arrived to discover the reality was far from the promises.