Come to the Fyre Festival they said. It will be a blast they said.
Unfortunately for the many who booked travel to this oasis music festival, reality is far removed from the promises made long before the inaugural event.
As Variety reports, things have become so problematic on the ground in Exumas that officials have decided to completely postpone the festival that was originally supposed to feature the likes of Blink-182, Major Lazer, Pusha-T, Migos, and Disclosure.
Things slowly started to unravel when Blink-182 unexpectedly pulled out of the event, posting the following to Twitter: "Regrettably, and after much careful and difficult consideration, we want to let you know that we won't be performing at Fyre Fest in the Bahamas this weekend and next weekend."
As for the reason, the band offered the following ominous statement: "We're not confident that we would have what we need to give you the quality of performances we always give our fans."
The two-weekend festival produced by rapper Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland
was billed as a luxurious, musical experience in paradise. Variety states tickets to the event ranged from $1,000 all that way to $250,000 VIP passes.
What has transpired has been anything but heavenly with myriad visitors posting to social media, illustrating the complete and utter debacle that has emerged around Exumas.
This includes meals that amount to bread, cheese and lettuce thrown into a box and accommodations that are described as disaster relief tents.
Fyre Festival released a statement on its website that reads in part: "Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas."
While officials don't offer specifics, the festival has distanced itself somewhat from an egregiously inferior product from the one previously promised: "Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests."
As seen in droves of tweets, people are en route back to the United States.
The following statement, however, offers some advice: "We ask that guests currently on-island do not make their own arrangements to get to the airport as we are coordinating those plans. We are working to place everyone on complimentary charters back to Miami today; this process has commenced and the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority."
As for whether Fyre will become a reality, officials aren't exactly garnering the utmost confidence with the following: "The festival is being postponed until we can further assess if and when we are able to create the high- quality experience we envisioned."
So, those hoping to have a gala music festival on a tucked-away oasis may have to settle with bringing your Bluetooth speaker to your next island vacation because there is a big "if" thrown out there by officials as to whether the show will go on.
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The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism issued a statement as well. It states, "We offered advice and assisted with communications with other government agencies. The event organizers assured us that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event but clearly, they did not have the capacity to execute an event of this scale."
It's easy to see why so many jumped at the chance to experience Fyre. It was touted as an absolutely lavish music festival that would include quaint but impeccable accommodations, an awesome lineup and a flawless infrastructure that would include efficient transportation and security.
Instead, the festival turned into a complete nightmare with lacking safety measures, severely subpar food and nothing in the way of, you know, music.
As of this writing, a thorough explanation is yet to be offered, but it certainly seems as if organizers were not nearly prepared for the kind of festival they had envisioned.
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