LimeWire Buys Fyre Festival Brand

LimeWire, the early-2000s file sharing platform that was relaunched in 2022, has acquired the Fyre Festival brand.

What festival?

• Fyre Festival was the infamous 2017 event created by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule that promised a high-end experience but dissolved into chaos and criminal charges courtesy of poor planning and artist cancelations.

The bidding process:

• Fyre Festival recently auctioned its name, trademarks, domains, social handles and more on Ebay.

• The highest of 175 bids was $245,300, evidently from LimeWire.

• They beat creative agency Maximum Effort, co-founded by Ryan Reynolds.

The future:

• In a statement LimeWire CEO Julian Zehetmayr said, “We’re not bringing the festival back – we’re bringing the brand and meme back to life. This time with real experiences, and without the cheese sandwiches.”

• LimeWire says it will unveil a “reimagined vision for Fyre” in the coming months.

• That vision “expands beyond the digital realm and taps into real-world experiences, community, and surprise.”

• Supporters can sign up for updates and early access here.

What they said:

• Marcus Feistl, COO of LimeWire: “We’re not here to repeat the mistakes – we’re here to own the meme and do it right. Fyre became a symbol of everything that can go wrong. Now it’s our chance to show what happens when you pair cultural relevance with real execution.”