His Fyre Festival failure landed him in prison. Now, Billy McFarland is trying again.

"Billy McFarland sits in the back of a pickup truck, a breeze blowing through his slicked-back hair. As the 33-year-old rides along the bumpy roads of the Caribbean island of Utila in Honduras, he holds up his phone and films himself. "It's happening, folks," McFarland exclaims, almost shouting into the camera. " French Montana is the headliner of the 2025 Phoenix Festival!""

"As a result of botched preparations, a lack of money, and several breaches of contract, the festival turned into a viral failure and led to McFarland getting hit with fraud charges. A later released documentary on Netflix shows how hundreds of guests who had traveled to a remote Bahamian island were eventually evacuated and confined in an airport terminal because there was virtually no accommodation or sanitation facilities at the festival site."

"400 guests on a Caribbean island, hundreds of thousands watching virtually. An unforgettable exclusive event for wealthy clients, influencers, and music fans. That's Billy McFarland's vision, anyways - and yes, it sounds a lot like his high-profile failure with the Fyre Festival in 2017, which eventually landed him in prison. In a phone call, McFarland tells Business Insider that this time is different. But convincing people to plunk down their money on a McFarland venture is likely to be a tough sell."

Billy McFarland is promoting a new exclusive Caribbean festival called Phoenix (PHNX), filming himself in Utila, Honduras and claiming French Montana as a headliner. The festival aims to host about 400 guests on a private island with hundreds of thousands watching virtually, targeting wealthy clients, influencers, and music fans. McFarland was released from prison early in 2022 and has been in Honduras preparing the event. French Montana's management did not confirm the booking, though the artist posted an ad for PHNX. The Fyre Festival collapse in 2017 involved botched preparations, money shortages, breached contracts, evacuations, and fraud charges against McFarland.

Read at Business Insider