While it’s too soon to tell and some worrying questions remain unresolved, Fyre Festival 2 organizers have put some guardrails in place to ensure that the fraudulent fiasco that was the original Fyre Festival won’t repeat for this year’s reboot.

Remember those sad cheese sandwiches, dilapidated tents and tarps and lost and bewildered festival-goers who paid hundreds to thousands of dollars to attend the Fyre Festival that wasn’t back in 2017? The music festival that was to have happened on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma was so poorly planned, so rife with fraud, and so perfectly logistically mismanaged that professional event planners at the time were gape-mouthed in horror at the ineptitude and criminality of it all. Not only was the festival eventually cancelled, but organizer Billy McFarland earned a six-year jail sentence and a $26 million fine, and the full folly of Fyre was dissected in not one, but two documentaries.

Who would imagine that McFarland et al would have the gall to do a reboot? But that’s apparently what’s happening as McFarland was reported to have started selling tickets — ranging in price from thousands to more than $1 million — to Fyre 2, scheduled to be held this May 30 to June 2 in Mexico.

There are a few worrying glitches this time around that may cause potential ticket-buyers to beware that Fyre 2 may also go down in flames. With less than two months until go-time, the artist lineup has yet to be shared — though a list of 40 entertainers is purported to be released soon — and the location has just been switched from Isla Mujeres to Playa del Carmen. There also was a report last week in the New York Post that the Playa del Carmen government posted on social media that it has no such event on the books. “[i]n response to rumors about a supposed event called ‘Fyre 2,’ we inform you that no event of that name will be held in Playa del Carmen. After a thorough review, there is no record or planning of any such event in the municipality,” Playa del Carmen officials wrote. However, McFarland did share a video of a press conference on March 28 that included local officials, specifically “special representatives from the Secretary of Tourism, Secretary of Economy, the Secretary of Security and Civil Protection,” McFarland said in his opening statement. He added in an Instagram post on April 4, “FYRE has been working directly with the government of Playa del Carmen (PDC) and their officials since March 5, 2025 to ensure a safe and successful event.All media reports suggesting our team has not been working with the government of PDC are simply inaccurate and based on misinformation.” Obviously, wires got crossed somewhere that will need to be straightened out ASAP if the show is in fact to go on as promised.

But there are also some signs that may bode if not well, at least better for this year’s rendition.

Management and logistics being handled by professionals. The first time around, McFarland oversaw much of the logistics, and the lack of professional event experience showed in myriad ways. Fyre Festival 2 is being managed by LostNights, a professional event production company, and the organizers say they already have secured all the necessary permits from local authorities — something they were not able to do for the 2017 festival — though the denial of this by local officials could cause some to doubt those permits have actually been put in place. Ticketing and hospitality also are being handled by established platforms SoldOut.com and FriendlySky, which in addition to making the ticket purchasing experience more reliable, also are guaranteeing refunds, which were not available the first time around.

Longer timeline. In 2017, the festival was thrown together quickly and haphazardly, with crucial pieces such as catering and accommodations not being secured until just weeks out. This time, organizers gave themselves a year to work out the logistics and get all the resources in place, including securing contracts with venues, hotels and performers. The late-in-the-game venue change and miscommunications with local officials is a bit too much of an echo of the original Fyre for comfort, though.

More hospitable site selection. Moving the festival from Great Exuma, which while lovely, doesn’t have a lot of infrastructure in place to handle a huge influx of festivalgoers, to an established destination like Playa del Carmen, should also make it easier to access, and provide more catering and housing options.

Accountability in marketing and finance. While the 2017 festival relied mainly on influencers to provide the marketing hype, this time McFarland said he’s all in on transparency and accountability — though the undisclosed lineup two months out and the reported lack of knowledge that the event is happening in Playa del Carmen does make one wonder. One thing organizers have said is that it will have more than just music for entertainment: It’s billed as “an electrifying celebration of music, arts, cuisine, comedy, fashion, gaming, sports and treasure hunting.” In addition, some of the profits from Fyre 2 is reported to be earmarked for restitution payments related to McFarland’s fraud conviction.

What will ultimately happen? We’ll find out in less than two months. In the meantime, as always, caveat emptor — buyer beware.