Luxury 'Fyre Festival' Event Canceled After Chaotic False Start
EXUMA ISLANDS (CBS NEWS) -- The Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, billed as a "luxury" event featuring big music acts and celebrity chefs, is now canceled after a chaotic false start, stranding angry visitors who shelled out thousands of dollars to attend.
"Due to unforeseen and extenuating circumstances, Fyre Festival has been fully postponed," the festival tweeted on Friday. "After assessing the situation this morning and looking at best options for our guests, we cannot move forward as we hoped we could. At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get all travelers home safely."
The statement was of little solace to those who were already on the island. After promises of gourmet meals from celebrity chefs, festival-goes who arrived on Thursday were treated to sandwich bread, salad and slices of cheese, one attendee claimed on Twitter.
The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/I8d0UlSNbd
— Tr3vor.eth (@TrevorDeHaas) April 28, 2017
Visitors at the music event called it a fraud. On its website, the Fyre Festival described itself a "cultural moment created from a blend of music, art, and food," and an ad for the event said it featured "the best in food, art, music and adventure."
A video from the organizers described what guests would find:
Other videos showed the reality:
So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organization. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city. pic.twitter.com/1lSWtnk7cA
— William N. Finley IV(It's real. I made it up) (@WNFIV) April 27, 2017