Billy McFarland's Fyre Festival follow-up included a bathroom barge, French Montana, and another viral food photo
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
- Billy McFarland hosted the PHNX 2025 festival over the weekend.
- McFarland aimed to redeem himself with excursions and a bathroom barge after the failed Fyre Festival.
- Viral food photos and a modest turnout marked the event, but no major disasters occurred.
Billy McFarland is trying to rise from the ashes of Fyre Festival.
His latest event is PHNX — pronounced "Phoenix." It attracted dozens of attendees over the weekend. Like the original Fyre Festival, it was heavily documented by camera crews and social media users.
Since being released from prison in 2022, after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges related to Fyre Festival, McFarland has been planning redemption from the disastrous 2017 festival that left hundreds of attendees stranded, hungry, and thirsty on a Bahamian island and became the subject of a hit Netflix documentary.
On Saturday and Sunday, McFarland ran it back with a smaller crowd, a mix of parties, excursions, and musical guests like French Montana as the headliner on Utila Bay, an island off the coast of Honduras.
@pyrtbilly To everyone who laughed at the bathroom barge. To everyone who said there wouldn’t be power. Who wants to be part of history? See you in 4 days.
♬ original sound - Billy McFarland
General admission tickets to PHNX cost $599. VIP passes went for up to $140,000 and included round-trip flights from Miami. PHNX offered all attendees brunch, lunch, dinner, and a handful of excursions, including scuba diving and a cave hike, in their ticket packages.
The itinerary was a far cry from the events that unfolded in 2017. Where unsanitary or simply unavailable bathrooms became a hallmark of Fyre Festival's failures, McFarland showed off a "bathroom barge" of floating port-a-potties for PHNX. He also shared fresh fruit stands and food options, including lobster, steak, and fresh salads — a much different menu from the infamous cheese sandwiches served at the first Fyre Festival.
Festival-goers, McFarland, and performers took their followers along for the ride at PHNX 2025. The event was also available via livestream for paying viewers.
One performer, a DJ who goes by 220 Kid, documented his time at the festival in several videos. His post about the vegetarian food option went particularly viral. The plate of rice and a single cob of corn drew scrutiny and a call back to the meager cheese sandwiches from 2017.
@220kidmusic Where my cheese sandwiches at
♬ original sound - 220 Kid
Rappers Slim Jxmmi and Bobby Shmurda showed up, and a clip from headliner French Montana's set showed a modest crowd dancing.
@maddsofficial Confirmed ! French showed up every artist did! Love this island so much ! #fyrefestival #PHNX
♬ original sound - Madds
"We set out to bring 400 people and a dozen artists to a private island in the Utila Bay Islands, and the experience exceeded every expectation," McFarland said in a statement. "PHNX 2025 was a milestone moment for us."
Videos showed dozens of festival-goers on the dance floor at different times. It's unclear how many people attended.
PHNX appeared to sidestep the big issues that defined Fyre, but it's too early to tell whether the event represents a meaningful reset for McFarland.
"This is only the beginning — a major announcement is coming soon," McFarland said.