‘This was dangerous’: Why are people comparing Coachella’s Revolve to Fyre Festival?

‘Revolve Fest was a bust’

2 years ago

While major celebs attended Coachella in their droves last weekend (16th April), a number of influencers and “micro-celebrities” were invited to sister festival Revolve.

The event – dedicated to music and shopping – was held by their namesake, a designer outlet retailer based in the US. Guests travelled to La Quinta, California in order to celebrate… but a lot of people left disappointed.

@averiebishop I hope you made it to the festival @kate bartlett !! #revolvefestival @revolve ♬ original sound – Aves

TikTokers have started complaining openly about their experiences at Revolve, which is currently being compared to the unspeakably disastrous Fyre Festival. Some even said the “dangerous” queuing systems and transportation “failures” meant they weren’t able to set foot in the festival at all.

What happened at the infamous Fyre Festival?

Photo via Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash

The biggest con of 2017 feels like a lifetime ago, and for those who don’t remember: Fyre Festival was a fraudulent event created to promote the CEO’s (Billy McFarland) music app, Fyre Media. Promoters of the event promised an all-singing, all-dancing festival complete with gourmet food, celebs and luxury accommodation.

In reality, attendees were greeted with cheese sandwiches, outdoor beds and property theft.

McFarland was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison.

Revolve promised to be the ‘event of the year’

Y’all know Revolve Festival has to be a joke because I also got an invite to attend Revolve Fest for the bargain of $2000 😂😂😂 they literally just invited every recurring customer pic.twitter.com/RNQnqSpj4I

— playboi chichi (@tranwreckkkkk) April 19, 2022

According to a newsletter-subscriber’s tweet, the retailer claimed their event was going to be one of the “biggest of the year,” with tickets costing upwards of £1537 ($2000). Another report also claimed influencers were invited to attend for free, in exchange for 12 posts on Instagram.

Celebrity attendees included Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet, Post Malone and Chloe X Halle. The Instagram posts from the official Revolve account became more and more grandiose as the weekend went on, with one caption saying: “We have fomo and we’re literally here.”

Influencers had a different story

@hannahkosh ♬ original sound – Hannah

TikToker Averie Bishop couldn’t manage to get into the festival at all, saying: “I waited in line for two hours… there was pushing, shoving, shouting, yanking people in front of the buses, people standing in between the buses.

“Sorry Revolve, but I really hope you take into consideration everyone’s safety and security next year.”

Another content creator, Tori’s Intel, claimed: “Influencers waited outside for seven hours without food or water.”

According to someone who actually made it onto the bus, TikToker Hannah Kosh, people were “passing out in the line… raiding the buses and drivers refused to come back.”

So… why are people comparing Revolve to Fyre Festival?

Twitter users are drawing connections between the two – partially due to the fact that many of this year’s Revolve attendees weren’t able to actually see the festival for themselves. But despite the reported organisational failures of Revolve, it’s safe to say the festival isn’t exactly the large-scale scam that Fyre Festival was.

The Tab has reached out to Revolve for comment.