Fyre music festival in Bahamas billed as luxe is 'postponed' after 'total disorganization and chaos'
— -- A luxury music festival planned for this weekend in the Bahamas has been postponed amid a storm of social media complaints from attendees and a statement by the island nation’s tourism office calling the situation "total disorganization and chaos."
The official website for the Fyre Festival posted a statement at midday Monday ET that reads, "Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas.
Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests."
The statement -- which came hours after attendees posted pictures from the local airport showing people apparently trying to catch flights back to the states -- continued, "The festival is being postponed until we can further assess if and when we are able to create the high-quality experience we envisioned."
It added that the organizers are trying to get attendees still on the island on complimentary charter flights back to Miami, Florida.
One attendee, Hallie Wilson, spoke with ABC News after she and more than 100 others landed back in Miami after spending hours trying to fly back in.
"It's been the longest 24 hours of our lives," she said, adding that she was part of a group of girls who spent $4,000 together for the trip to celebrate a friend's bachelorette party.
But once the group landed, they immediately found out the festival was very different from what was promoted. She said the experience was "pretty scary."
"You couldn't leave the tent because someone would steal it, not everyone [had a] place to sleep," she explained of the accommodations. "I had a friend, she had her phone stolen."
A representative at the Gregory Town Police Station on the island where the festival was held told ABC News that they do not yet have any reports of theft from the attendees.
Earlier, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism released a statement saying, "The event organizers assured us that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event but clearly they did not have the capacity to execute an event of this scale."
Fyre Festival attendee Trevor DeHass told ABC News on Monday morning that the moment he and his friends landed on the island of Great Exuma on Thursday night for what he thought would be "the most luxurious festival in the world," they began to worry.
DeHass said the food, for example, was not up to the upscale standards advertised for the all-inclusive weekend. He said he and his friends were served two slices of bread, a slice of cheese and a small salad for dinner Thursday. DeHass also said that he has been unable to find Fyre Festival organizers at the site -- only local hires who he said aren't able to answer his questions.
DeHass has been tweeting about his experience.
His tweets are one small piece of an explosion of complaints on social media about the festival. Fyre Festival ticket packages cost up to thousands of dollars, with some starting at $4,395 per person. Other guests are also saying that what was advertised as a tropical getaway lacks even the most basic accommodations.
A request for comment from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism on the allegation in some posts of attendees being locked indoors did not receive an immediate response.
Since the posts began appearing online, some groups have arrived back in Miami. William Finley posted a video to Twitter showing passengers on a flight cheering as they landed back in the states.
The festival lineup was scheduled to include high-profile acts like Ja Rule, Daya and Tyga. Requests for comment from their respective representatives were not immediately returned to ABC News, but Rule had been posting all week on Instagram and Twitter about the festival, even showing off a "Fyre" airplane in one of his posts.
Blink-182 was also scheduled to headline, but said yesterday that they would not be attending.
In a video published on the Fyre Festival YouTube page in January, the events was billed as the "The best in food, art music and adventure" and featured models and artists playing on the beach and in the water.
Fyre Festival released a statement on Instagram early this morning, saying "things got off to an unexpected start."
Requests for comment from the festival itself have been bounced back have bounced back with an automatic replay email stating they are dealing with "overwhelming demand" for comment.
