# Fyre Festival

> Fyre’s failed festival left ticket holders facing proposed payouts of $281 each.

- Owner: Fyre Media / Fyre Festival LLC; Billy McFarland and Ja Rule
- Kind: Moment
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2017-04-27
- Observed peak date: Week of Jan 26, 2019
- Date basis: Observed peak within the documented measurement window; not an all-time maximum. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 60 (Viral), v1.3
- Mechanics: Real-world spectacle, Controversy, Platform jump

## Summary

Paid Instagram posts promoted Fyre in December, then attendee posts exposed tents and food in April. Organisers cancelled the event; Hulu and Netflix revived the story in January 2019. Later court papers proposed $281 per claimant.

## Timeline

- 2016-12-12 — Fyre Festival and contracted influencers (Instagram) — Fyre launched coordinated orange-tile Instagram posts and a promotional video.
- Mar 2017 — Fyre Festival production planners (Open web) — Planners proposed rolling tickets over to the following year.
- 2017-04-27 — blink-182 (X) — Blink-182 withdrew, saying it could not deliver its usual performance.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/fyre-festival

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Fyre Festival.” Case HIS-01501. Spread Score v1.3: 60/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01501