3FB56C1F000005784454690imagea18_1493410583733Image: Dailymail.com

 UPDATE 30/04/17: The founders of the failed Fyre Festival on an island in the Bahamas have released a statement apologising for the disastrous situation punters experienced.

“Yesterday was a very challenging day for all of us. [Tech entrepreneur] Billy McFarland and Ja Rule started a partnership over a mutual interest in technology, the ocean, and rap music. This unique combination of interests led them to the idea that, through their combined passions, they could create a new type of music festival and experience on a remote island. They simply weren’t ready for what happened next, or how big this thing would get.”

“We decided to literally attempt to build a city” on the site, setting up water and waste management, bringing in an ambulance from New York and chartering plans to shuttle their guests from Miami,” it continued.

“We thought we were ready, but then everyone arrived. The team was overwhelmed. The airport was jam packed. The buses couldn’t handle the load. And the wind from rough weather took down half of the tents on the morning our guests were scheduled to arrive. This is an unacceptable guest experience and the Fyre team takes full responsibility for the issues that occurred.”

Organisers say Fyre Festival will take place in 2018 on a beach venue in the United States and that they’ll add “more seasoned event experts” to help. Those who purchased tickets to this year’s event will apparently be refunded and will also receive VIP passes to the 2018 festival.

“We need to make this right,” the statement said. “And once we make this right, then we will put on the dream festival we sought to have since the inception of Fyre.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

People that paid a minimum of $12,000 to attend supposed luxury music event Fyre Festival in the Bahamas this weekend arrived to find utter chaos: half-built grounds, feral dogs, nowhere to sleep but disaster relief tents, and certainly no music.

It was billed as “a cultural moment created from an alchemic blend of music, art, and food” but photos and videos shared on social media reveal the event, backed by Ja Rule and promoted by Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid was a far cry from the music acts, luxury accommodation and world-class food punters were promised.

The grounds on the island of Exuma looked more like a refugee camp than a festival, with government-certified emergency tents put up in place of accommodation, which was never built.

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Rather than “first-class culinary experiences”, punters were served slices of bread, cheese and salad in Styrofoam containers.

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Image: Twitter/OMGrainman

But anyone who could get their hands on that were the lucky ones. Hundreds of people who tried to leave the island once they encountered the chaos at the festival were locked in the airport terminal by staff without any food or water, and some fainted.

Acts that were meant to perform, including Blink 182, Major Lazer either pulled out hours before the festival was meant to start or never appeared, and not only was there no music, but also no medical care to ensure the safety of the festival goers.

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Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music festival experience, with punters paying anywhere from $12,000 to more than $100,000, depending on what “luxury add-ons” a guest chose to purchase.

Ja Rule, who founded Fyre Festival with entrepreneur Billy McFarland, released an apology of sorts on Twitter a day after the disaster unfolded, although he denied any responsibility.

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The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism also released a statement announcing their disappointment at what had unfolded.

“We offer a heartfelt apology to all who traveled to our country for this event.”

One festival-goer documented his experience trying to leave the island, which included sitting on a plane on the tarmac without food or water for hours, before passengers were told they were not able to leave and were forced to return to the airport.

Many on Twitter couldn’t help but note the irony of the wealthy young Americans being appalled by the conditions on the island without adequate food, water or shelter, as millions toil around the globe as the world experiences the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

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