美国国家公共电台 NPR Fyre Festival Fiasco: Luxury Music Experience Turns Into Vacation Nightmare

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

It was supposed to be an exclusive luxury music festival on a tropical island. Instead it became a target of ridicule¹ and a social media feeding frenzy².

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The brand new Fyre Festival - that's F-Y-R-E - was supposed to be held this weekend and next in the Bahamas. Major Lazer, Ja Rule and Blink-182 were scheduled to perform.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: The promotional video showed famous models on jet skis by day, pounding music by night. But when guests arrived yesterday, this is what they found.

SETH CROSSNO: It looked like a disaster relief area. There were just tents everywhere. It's, like, if you had gone on that island, you would think, oh, this is a festival that'll be ready in about a month.

SHAPIRO: That's Seth Crossno of Raleigh, N.C. He says he spent around $4,000 to attend, and he was there about two hours before he knew he had to leave.

CROSSNO: There was no coordination³. There was nobody in charge. There was no signage. There was nothing. And you just get dropped on this island.

CORNISH: After 11 hours, Crossno was among the first attendees to make it back to Miami. Others never made it to the island at all. Flights were canceled. In retrospect⁴, maybe those people were the lucky ones. Janan Buisier of Dallas returned to Miami this morning, too.

JANAN BUISIER: You're promised safety. You're promised to be taken care of. You're promised an experience of a lifetime. And yes, it was quite the experience but not in a positive way.

CORNISH: Buisier spent more than $1,300 to go to the festival. She said at first, she and her friends wanted to make the best of a bad situation.

BUISIER: But then we saw how it started getting dangerous.

CORNISH: She says there wasn't enough security or electricity or lights or food. She's worried about the people who are still at the festival site. When she left last night, it looked like more than a thousand people were still there.

SHAPIRO: Festival organizers didn't respond to our request for comment. A statement on their website says in part, (reading) Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience. Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure⁵ was not in place on time, and we are unable to fulfill⁶ on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests. At this time, we're working tirelessly to get everyone home safely as quickly as we can.

CORNISH: The Bahamas Ministry⁷ of Tourism called the festival total disorganization and chaos⁸ and said they've sent a team to help people get home.

SHAPIRO: Social media reveled in the implosion⁹. Twitter called it a luxury party that turned into "The Hunger Games."

CORNISH: Comedian¹⁰ Mike Drucker wrote, Fyre Festival is an art installation where mediocre¹¹ people realize what their lives would be like without rich parents.

SHAPIRO: And Elle magazine columnist¹² R. Eric Thomas wrote, I almost feel bad for enjoying it so much, but then I remember that schadenfreude is an important part of a healthy breakfast.

CORNISH: This was supposed to be the first of two weekends of the festival. The second weekend has been canceled.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ MAKO SONG, "ASH")

1 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

2 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

3 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

4 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

10 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

11 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

12 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。