In July, Billy McFarland auctioned off Fyre Festival and sold it for $245,300, complaining that the price was “so low.” In September, he revealed the buyer was none other than LimeWire. Did you think the notorious entrepreneur’s ridiculous ventures would end there? Of course not. He’s launching a new island festival called PHNX 2025, and it’s slated for Dec. 4-Dec. 8 on Diamond Cay in the Caribbean. French Montana has been announced as the headliner.
PHNX 2025 is a “400-person private island experience,” as per McFarland’s statement. On the ticket website, there are several tiers: Livestream ($3.99), General Admission Honduras Resident ($200), General Admission Early Bird II ($499), VIP Palapa Early Bird ($3,500), PHNX Artist Pass ($74,000), and HELIOPOLIS ($500,000), the last of which includes:
• Private, 10-seat Challenger 601 round trip from Miami.
• The best villa on Utila.
• Private chef in your villa 24/7.
• Golf cart with 24/7 driver and local guide, plus 4 ATVs.
• The best boat on Utila with 24/7 captain. Come and go from Diamond Cay. Watch the concert from your boat, dock on the island, bring attendees on your boat. Snorkel, explore, island hop as you please.
• Bottle service to your boat during the Saturday and Sunday Festival.
• Stage access during the festival. Be with the artists as they perform.
• Artist only dinner.
• Private dinner and drinks with Billy McFarland on Utila before or after the festival.
“Our goal to have 400 people leave the island with new memories and relationships that change their lives,” McFarland says in his statement. “Everything we’re doing, from the live production to the broadcast, is about giving people something they’ll never forget. All of this is possible because of our partnership with Hiami.”
On the r/fyrefestival subreddit, a user pointed out a multitude of problems:
I have personally been to Utila and to Diamond Cay. Utila does not have the infrastructure to support a large festival. There are no public bathrooms anywhere. There is very limited accommodation on the island itself. There are only a handful of restaurants that can support more than 20 people at a time. The next closest island of similar size is Roatan, an hour ferry ride away.
Diamond Cay itself is tiny. Maybe 250 feet across. The Cay has some structure built on it. It was originally meant to be a hotel/resort but the government halted the project after the construction crews began destroying the reef around the island in order to build it up, according to locals on Utila. Also, the owner of the island is an American who, again according to locals, is in prison for tax crimes.
There is no established, reliable, consistent transport to and from the Cay. Highly unlikely that it has running water (even if it does you cant drink the water) or power. Jewel Cay, next to Diamond Cay, has basically no accommodation to rent and is home to the majority of the fishermen in the area. It is however, close enough that you could swim over to Diamond Cay if you wanted to.
McFarland says a second headliner will be announced soon.
