A luxury music festival costing up to $12,000 a ticket has been called off amid scenes of “complete and total chaos”.

Music lovers were supposed to be treated to the height of luxury at the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, but upon arrival they reported being met with tents instead of villas, cheese sandwiches instead of gourmet food, delayed luggage and poor security.

Many attendees have been documenting their underwhelming experiences on social media.

The inaugural event, co-organised by rapper Ja Rule, was due to take place from April 28-30 and May 5-7 on the islands of the Exumas.

An advert for the festival had promised “an immersive music festival on a remote and private island in the Exhumas. The best in food, art, music and adventure”

It also claimed to be “on the boundaries of the impossible”.

But on the day the first weekend was supposed to get under way, organisers announced the event had been postponed.

In a statement, the organisers said: “Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas.

“Due to circumstances out of our control and difficulties with coordination internationally, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfil on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests.

“At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get everyone off of Great Exuma and home safely as quickly as we can. This process has commenced and their safety and comfort is our top priority. We anticipate all charter flights back to Miami will happen today.”

They were assessing “if and when” they would be able to “create the high-quality experience” that festival goers had been expecting, the statement added.

Organisers initially took to social media to announce that inbound flights to the Exumas had been cancelled and blamed the numerous issues on “growing pains that every first year event experiences”.

But hours later, the announcement came that the whole event had been called off. Pictures apparently showing attendees queuing at the airport waiting for a flight home have begun to appear on social media.

The event promised to be “a cultural moment created from a blend of music, art, and food”. It was marketed as an exclusive event and promoted by high profile models including Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski.

Ticket prices for the festival started at $450 (£347) going up to $12,000 (£9,200).

The festival was scheduled to include yoga, beach activities and mediation. Booked artists included Disclosure, Skepta, Major Lazer and Tyga.

Blink 182 were also on the bill but pulled out before the event was postponed.

Ja Rule shared pictures of festival preparations on his social media accounts in the days leading up to the event.
He is yet to comment publicly.