Fyre Fest 2.0?

This week has been nonstop with Australian election drama, the start of the Depp/Heard court case and false rumours of ASAP Rocky allegedly cheating on Rihanna going viral. Within all this chaos, influencers in California were experiencing what is being labelled ‘Fyre Fest 2.0’.

Revolve Festival is the unofficial side festival for Coachella. This annual music, arts and shopping event is run by Revolve Clothing (home to the world’s most-coveted designer apparel, shoes & accessories) and is invite-only. The exclusive festival has been hit with harsh criticism this week after A-listers, such as Charli D’Amelio and Timothee Chalamet, were prioritised over smaller creators, creating a logistical nightmare.

With the US desert heat and lack of water, influencers were rightly infuriated at the fact their promised shuttle transport took hours to arrive. They were then allegedly separated into lines away from A-listers and even though they were personally invited to attend, the event reached capacity with prioritised celebs and some influencers couldn’t even get into the event!

Various TikTok-er’s took to their channels to share their experience, calling for Revolve to be held accountable. This recount of events went viral in all the worst ways. In fine crisis PR style, Revolve was quick to act, releasing a statement to discuss the events that took place.

It read, “as the festival was reaching capacity late Saturday afternoon, shuttle access to the venue was limited in order to remain in compliance with safety requirements, causing longer wait times for entry and resulting in some guests not being able to attend the festival.”

It’s hard to label this as anything other than a PR nightmare for the Revolve brand. Many influencers have decided to boycott the brand moving forward, with others remaining hopeful they learnt from this for next year. Although this event has been deemed ‘Fyre Fest 2.0’, it doesn’t look like this brand has been officially cancelled – which is the common outcome in 2022. As public relations professionals, we are keen to see if the annual event can redeem itself next year, or if the negative press will tarnish it’s elite reputation.

By Claudia Bergen – PR & Influencer Coordinator at InsideOut PR and #AsSeenOn