Strangers at festival help autistic man realise dream

Strangers at a music event helped an autistic man "realise all of his dreams" after he attended his first-ever festival alone.

Adam James, 23, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, said his father, Andy, was very concerned for his safety before he travelled to Boomtown Festival in Hampshire.

But Andy's fears "melted away" after Adam befriended a group of festival-goers who invited him to camp with them and helped ensure he enjoyed the five-day event.

Following the festival, Andy shared a thank-you post to the "lads from Bristol" on social media which went viral. Andy said: "It's been lovely to see my son have all of his dreams realised in the past week."

The viral post has also resulted in Adam, who was an aspiring drum and bass DJ, being booked for several gigs.

"It's been overwhelming, but absolutely brilliant," Adam added.

Adam, also known as Adzo to his friends, said he was nervous because it was his first time going to a festival.

But he said everything changed in the first 10 minutes of meeting the group, who asked him if he had a mallet to help build their tents.

"Next thing you know they were asking me to camp with them.

"I wasn't very confident in myself but as soon as I was with them I was fine.

"They could have just ignored me, but the fact they saw I was on my own and took me in was just amazing," he said.

Andy said the whole family was worried Adam would become overwhelmed at the festival.

They had planned an emergency evacuation, believing Adam would want to leave within the first day or two of arriving.

But when they got a message from Adam saying, 'dad, I think I've found my people', he said all their fears melted away.

Andy said he shared the social media post to let the parents of Adam's new friends know "that their kids did all this out of kindness".

Following the viral post, which has been shared and liked by thousands of people, it was arranged for Adam to be reunited with the group in the Trident Pub in Bristol this week.

Ciaran, a member of the group, said that Adam fitted in perfectly, adding: "It was almost like he drove to the festival with us."

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