‘It was an absolute Fyre Festival.’ Before Miami contestants were enlisted to save the world, another group signed up in Montreal. But where were the cameras?
The documentary crew for Netflix’s Fyre Festival was already present across the city of Miami when their hotel collapsed. The documentary crew for Netflix’s Fyre Festival was already present across the city of Miami when their hotel collapsed.
When it was all over, a city lost two and one half football fields worth of valuable real estate.
In the weeks before the festival took place, people were already leaving the city in record numbers. At the height of the festival, the city was home to 1.3 million people, the vast majority of whom were non-essential visitors. The festival was supposed to boost the local economy by up to a minimum of $175 million; in the aftermath, they’ll likely only count as a negative $20 million.
In a city that has already lost several times that amount of money, this was supposed to be the best way to make it better.
Instead, this wasn’t a festival, but a reality television disaster.
But what about all the people who turned out to watch?
“It was an absolute Fyre Festival,” one young woman recalls. “It was a beautiful festival, and I had a wonderful time, but I don’t think I should have to pay for it.”
There were those who came to say goodbye for a last time. “There were so many people going inside, they had to get tickets for that,” one says. “There was a lot of crying and weeping and crying.”
Others came to say goodbye for a last time. “There was a lot of crying and weeping and crying,” one young woman says. “They were like, ‘Please give us some money, our family’s in debt.’ They were crying.”
A man who is not going back soon, but will probably soon begin planning a trip to a second Fyre Festival, says, “I want to experience this life and live it, but I also want to know that it’s not for free.”
All of this happened in one of the most expensive cities in the world, and in the most expensive city in the