This week thousands of people, many of them millennials, travelled to the Bahamian private island of Fyre Cay to attend the luxuriousFyre Festival.

The festival, which was co-organised by rapper Ja Rule and promoted by the likes of Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, was advertised as a two-weekend event packed with music, culture and food. Promoters even said there was more than $1 million in real treasure and jewels hidden on the island.

None of the models involved in promoting #FyreFestival (Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner) actually attended the debacle: https://t.co/4SyxqHoKyK pic.twitter.com/hrBZR319xb

— W magazine (@wmag) April 28, 2017

According to the BBC,festival-goers paid up to $12 000 to attend the event, but once they arrived on the island, the reality was far from the extravagant, celebrity-packed experience they were expecting.

The headline actBlink 182had pulled out, and amid reports of cancelled flights, no security, and a lack of infrastructure on the island,Fyre Festivalorganisers officially postponed the event, leaving ticket holders stranded on the island.

pic.twitter.com/lMjXQSMPqC

— blink-182 (@blink182) April 27, 2017

YesterdayFyre Festivalorganisers issued a statement on their website and social media channels announcing that “due to circumstances out of [their] control” they had to cancel the event.

“Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas,” they wrote.

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

As compensation for any ill will caused by #fyrefestival Official Staff has announced all attendees will get an extra hour in the ballpit. pic.twitter.com/Us58auYPSB

— Mom (@truongasm) April 28, 2017

“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. We ask that guests currently on-island do not make their own arrangements to get to the airport as we are coordinating those plans. We are working to place everyone on complimentary charters back to Miami today; this process has commenced and the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority,” the statement read.

The festival organisers asked for “patience and cooperation during this difficult time as we work as quickly and safely as we can to remedy this unforeseeable situation”.

Ja Rule also released a statement on Twitter saying he was “heartbroken” and claiming that the festival was not a scam.

pic.twitter.com/KuJYxfsQJ4

— Ja Rule (@Ruleyork) April 28, 2017

Stranded ticket holders have been documenting their experience on social media, speaking about being forced to find shelter in tent cities, being fed stale cheese sandwiches, and waiting in line for hours to board planes to leave the island.

Yesterday Page Six reported that celebrities were forewarned to avoid the festival. A source toldPage Sixthat Ja Rule and his co-organiser Billy McFarland, warned A-listers not to come to the island and they themselves left as soon as things began to go south.

“They called all the A-list names and the modelling agencies and told them not to come,” says the source. “They were just like, ‘Oh, come next weekend when all the kinks have been worked out.’ This was before the chaos even started.”

@FyreFraud Here’s the dinner they fed us tonight. Literally slices of bread, cheese, and salad with no dressing. #fyrefraud #fyrefestival #dumpsterfyre pic.twitter.com/NmNXakSFlq

— Tr3vor (@trev4president) April 28, 2017

“Everybody who was organising the festival took off,” says the source. “They abandoned it. They put up a sh***y stage, took millions of dollars, and then left everybody stranded. It was like a scene out of that movie ‘Exodus.’ There were people with bags, not knowing what to do. I feared for people’s safety, it got so bad.”

Among the thousands of people stranded on Fyre Cay, are two young Australian women – 22-year-old Shakira Richardson and her friend Alanna Baldwin.

Richardson’s sister Laila Afifi told the Sydney Morning Herald the women had spent $7000 to attend the festival.

These are the secure lockers at Fyre Fest. They forgot to tell us we needed locks. #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/Tqyjqbg2Gy

— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017

“When they got to the island they were asking about their accommodation, what they had booked, and they kept coming back saying the tents they had booked had not been finished yet and they said, ‘Ok that’s fine, we’ll just wait’, and seven hours later it was the same information given to them,” Afifi said.

“They’re stuck on this island, all flights to and from the islands have been cancelled, there’s no taxis, the electricity and water have been cut off, they have nowhere to sleep… they’re stranded there.”

Richardson’s family have contacted the Australian Embassy to ask for help getting the two Perth women off the island.

At this point it’s unknown how many other Australians travelled to the festival and how many more could be stranded on Fyre Cay.