Music festival VestiVille cancelled last-minute, drawing Fyre Festival comparisons
VestiVille was a concert festival promising luxury accommodations, A-list entertainers like Cardi B, Migos and Future and it's supposed to be happening this weekend. The three-day gathering in northeastern Belgium was canceled Friday as concertgoers were arriving at the venue, drawing comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival.
Organizers said in a tweet the local mayor would not let the festival begin and safety was an issue. Rapper ASAP Rocky tweeted that he would not be performing due to infrastructure and security problems. Angry spectators who were told there would be no festival got unruly, while others lashed out on social media, pointing out they spent thousands of dollars on tickets and travel.
Organizers said they are consulting about offering a refund. If this sounds familiar, it should. In 2017, Fyre Festival lured thousands of concertgoers to the Bahamas, only to strand them when organizers couldn't provide enough basic services for the guests.
Scenes at @VestiVille were beyond scary. Unprofessional and so unsafe. No announcement regarding cancellation and staff members put at risk. Ridiculous pic.twitter.com/IitjUjvFze
— Cristina (@CristinaXO_LJoy) June 28, 2019
It's unclear what prompted VestiVille to be called off but there's another common thread between the two festivals: rapper Ja Rule, who was scheduled to perform this weekend.
Fyre Festival LLC filed for bankruptcy in July 2017 because it couldn't pay its vendors and other creditors. Festival organizer Billy McFarland is now serving a six-year prison sentence for fraud valued at $27.4 million.
He and his business partner, rapper Ja Rule (whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins), also faced a $100 million class action related to Fyre Fest. Atkins claimed he never earned money from the event and that he was "bamboozled."