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Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland has announced that the first round of tickets for Fyre Festival II has sold out. Described by McFarland as the “adventure of a lifetime”, Fyre Festival II is an attempt to shift the narrative around McFarland and the original 2017 Fyre Festival that was riddled with scandals and resulted in McFarland spending four years in federal prison for wire fraud. McFarland took to social media to talk about Fyre Festival II after it was announced the first round of tickets sold out: “The first FYRE Festival II drop has sold out. Since 2016 FYRE has been the most talked about festival in the world. We now saw this convert to one of the highest priced GA pre-sales in the industry. FYRE is about people from around the world coming together to pull off the impossible. “This time we have incredible support. I’ll be doing what I love while working with the best logistical and infrastructure partners. In addition, all ticket sale revenue will be held in escrow until the final date is announced. We look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build FYRE and FYRE Festival II into the island adventure of a lifetime,” he added. The initial tickets for Fyre Festival II went on sale for $499 (£390), with later releases set to cost up to $7,999 (£6,250). The original festival was promoted by multiple popular celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber. Fyre Festival was promised to contain an array of musical performances, as well as other attractions. It was to be hosted on an island in the Bahamas that was claimed to have been previously owned by Pablo Escobar. Despite the hype surrounding the festival, it ultimately resulted in a disaster. So much so that both Netflix and Hulu released shows documenting the festival and how it concluded with McFarland in jail. In 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and admitted to lying to investors that funded the first Fyre Festival. He was released from prison early in March 2022, and required to return $26 million to investors of the event. Speaking in a YouTube video uploaded on Monday, McFarland spoke about Fyre Festivall II: “It has been the absolutely wildest journey to get here and it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement. I wrote out this 50-page plan of how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre and how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen.” He added: “we decided that Fyre Festival is coming back to the Caribbean. We are targeting Fyre Festival II for the end of next year.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Waitrose has joined major supermarkets by introducing its first lunchtime meal deal. The upmarket retailer has said that on 30 August, it will be introducing its Food To Go offer, which will include a main, side and drink for £5, due to the growing demand for easy lunches as workers return to the office following the end of the pandemic. The deal will include a range of sandwiches, wraps, sushi and salads, alongside fruit, cereal bars, juices and smoothies. Waitrose has long offered all these products as part of its Food To Go range, but this is the first time they will be available in a lunchtime deal. Waitrose joins other supermarket chains including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons and also Boots, which all offer lunch deals – but Waitrose’s deal is the most expensive, with Tesco’s deal costing £3.90 and Sainsbury’s and Morrisons’s equivalents costing £3.50. Meanwhile, a Boots meal deal costs £3.99 but it is £3.60 if you use an Advantage Card. MyWaitrose customers who bring in their own cup can also get a free cup of coffee when they buy their £5 meal deal. The supermarket has launched its first vegan BLT sandwich, and have also included chilled snacks such as Taiko gyoza and Higgidy ham hock & cheddar rolls in the deal. Speaking about the new launch, Waitrose Food To Go buyer Jennifer Moscardini said: “We know lots of our customers are heading into our shops to grab something for their lunch, so to be able to offer them a convenient, high-quality and great value meal deal is really important for us.” It follows reports that Waitrose and John Lewis will start offering free hot drinks and discounted food to on-duty police officers in an attempt to tackle shoplifting. The upmarket shops hope uniformed police and patrol cars being on site will deter thieves in a similar way to which motorists slow down on the roads when they see officers. John Lewis Partnership, which owns the brands, has written to the Police Federation to say officers can get free coffee if they bring a reusable cup. Community support officers will also be able to take advantage of the initiative, which John Lewis has named “thanks a latte”. Read More Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sightseeing tour led by Thomas Markle’s friend sparks outrage over privacy Bride tries on mother’s wedding dress 30 years after parents’ wedding Former royal chef explains why Prince William and Kate’s children don’t eat with them

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