THE FYRE FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARIES AND WHAT WE SHOULD TAKE AWAY FROM THEM

So like literally everyone else on the planet I finally got around to watching the Fyre Festival documentaries now available to stream on Netflix and Hulu. In case you somehow missed it, somehow, the Fyre Festival was supposed to be a luxury music festival in the Bahamas, but in reality, it was FEMA tents in an unfinished lot with plastic cheese on toast and no water. It was put on by a pretty- much-confirmed con man and Ja Rule (for some reason) and was either the biggest con ever or just a giant mess spurred on by pure delusion. If you somehow haven’t gotten around to watching these movies, I would try and do it as soon as possible, especially if you are someone who loves to go to festivals. While there was definitely a lot to break down and take away from the sheer insanity that was the Fyre Festival, I think there were a few things that are worth talking about on here, since this is a space where we talk about festivals on the daily (or every other daily if we are getting technical).

I think that the first thing that both these films bring into the light is the idea that events aren’t always what they have been marketed to be. The Fyre festival marketing was slick. I remember seeing the promotional videos all over Instagram and being totally taken in by the bright blue water and festival stock footage and thinking it looked pretty good. Thankfully I had nowhere near enough money to jump on the bandwagon, but it sure looked like it was going to be amazing. Now I am not going to say that anything is ever going to come close to the disaster that was Fyre Festival, but that you need to be thorough when it comes to vetting the events you plan on attending. If you see something new and shiny and it looks great, but you can’t find a ton of information on it make sure to do more digging before you buy into it completely, especially if it isn’t being put on by a prominent festival production company. It is easier than ever to make a fantastic promotional video and website and promote it via social media. Instagram and Facebook have made it ridiculously easy to scam people by selling smoke and mirrors. There are thousands of websites packed with stock footage that anyone can edit together to create something that looks unreal. Again, I don’t think that every small festival you haven’t heard of is a scam, but if we don’t take away that we should be a little bit less open with our trust when it comes to first time events, then I don’t know what we should have learned from it.

Doing your research is always a good idea if you have never been to a certain event or if it is taking place for the first time. This is less in regards to an event being a scam, but more about making sure you are prepared for it not to be everything you have imagined. I heard multiple accounts from Decadence in Arizona this past year describing the disorganization and problems of the venue and poor planning on the part of the event company, the words ‘muddy, dirt plot’ were thrown around. Again, this isn’t Fyre Festival level problematic, but it defiantly can take your experience from awesome, to not so great, especially if you aren’t dressed for it. Now, this is more to do with event companies than anything else. I would personally recommend that you look into events that the production company has put on before as you consider dropping money on tickets and travel for a festival. One of the reasons why I am a significant fan of Insomniac is that they are reliable. You know that if you are going to an Insomniac event, it is going to be well organized, well run, and security is going to be up to par. Now I have only been to a few non-Insomniac events, and I can say with certainty that in comparison they don’t even come close when it comes to organization. This isn’t a dig at anyone who isn’t insomniac, but a reminder that sometimes less established events just aren’t going to be as organized and well managed, which can lead to all sorts of problems down the line as an attendee. Now, this may not be too much of an issue for you if the event is only an hour or two away, but if there is camping or lots of travel involved (as there was with Fyre Festival), this can lead to MAJOR trouble if you don’t take the time to vet everything carefully.

I think that the final piece that we should take away from these documentaries as people who love festivals and are always looking to experience a new one is not to buy into the hype. It can be really easy to see a cool poster, an awesome lineup, and a cool promo video or two and get pulled into the hype surrounding an event, but you need to make sure that if you are going to buy tickets that you have done you're due diligence, especially if it is an event company you've never heard of. The bottom line is that the world isn't a nice place and sometimes things just aren't what they have been made to look like, which is why you need to be careful when it comes to first time events put on by companies who don't have a history of event planning.

At the end of the day, I feel like the failure of Fyre Festival is sadder than anything else because if they had managed to pull it off and do it right, it would have no doubt become a bucket list music festival for most of us. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way, and the festival is going to go down as one of the biggest disasters in festival history. At least we can learn something from it...I guess.