Remember building fake podiums and stages with pillows and chairs as a kid  to unleash your inner superstar to your unwilling family? Well, The Gathering, the internet’s latest laughing stock, has taken that fantasy to the extreme, resulting in a festival flop that puts even Fyre to shame. Ja Rule, sleep easy tonight, people have forgotten your fuck up for a hot minute.

Festival founder, Andrew Murdock, promised punters “50,000 watts of sound, Amazing lighting that will melt your face, visuals that will blow your mind, an Oxygen BAR, Food vendors, a Beer Cave,” and “breakfast served on us.”. Kinda sounds like that annoying shit talking kid from school who’d invite you over to their ‘amazing’ house every weekend and then flake last minute because they were ‘sick.’

In reality, festy heads were treated to stages made from Year 10 Woodwork style ply-wood stages and department store speakers, held in the middle of an abandoned forrest lot. Byron Bay Parklands, watch out, you have a new competitor.

Attendees who paid more than $130 for a ticket have taken to Facebook to publicly blast the failed festival that was apparently meant to feature a lineup topped Leah Culver, and several others. Maybe this is telling of the current festival landscape – is this peak boutique music festival culture? We mean, what other festival can provide this level of niche in production style. Not Coachella, that’s for sure. Check out the alleged lineup:

The event put on by little-known promoters EDM United Events, who will probably remain little known after this disaster. Or not, depending how far people will take the joke. Ah, the internet.