NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Fyre Festival felon Billy McFarland is out of prison and on to a new scheme purportedly set in The Bahamas — a treasure hunt.
McFarland was released earlier this year after serving four years of his six-year sentence but still owes millions to a litany of stakeholders, among them local businesses in Exuma.
He has teased the venture, called PYRT, in a series of videos on Tiktok. According to media reports, participants compete to find 99 bottles containing messages.
In his latest video posted two days ago, McFarland said two bottles have already been found and suggested the “PYRT crew” sent two people to The Bahamas to continue the treasure hunt last week. He told followers to “stay tuned to find out what this all means”.
The website asks users to “Join the crew” by inputting their telephone number, and describes a ‘PYRT’ as “someone who turns the impossible into an adventure”.
According to Deadline, the new venture will be filmed for a feature documentary “After the Fyre” and chronicle McFarland’s attempts to make good on the failed music festival.
It will be produced by Ample Entertainment with distributor Fremantle, according to Deadline.
However, the project could be off to a troubled start as Deputy Prime Minister and Exuma MP Chester Cooper told a local daily yesterday that he was not aware that any applications for necessary permits had been submitted by McFarland.
Notwithstanding, local vendors told Eyewitness News they felt McFarland should not be allowed to operate in the country until he settled his debts, and more stringent regulations were enforced.
“They can come back with it again but before they touch down in this country, they need to pay these people off first,” said Elvis Rolle.
“Pay us our money first, and before they do anything the government needs to put things in place that they would be able to do the right thing.”
The Fyre Festival saga that saw stranded ticketholders, who were promised a luxury music festival, scramble for FEMA tents and cheese sandwiches was chronicled in two documentaries on Netflix and Hulu.
This is a developing story.
