An autistic music fan who went viral after attending his first festival alone and being welcomed into a group of complete strangers is set to return next year – this time as a DJ.

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Adam James, 23, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, headed to Boomtown Fair in Hampshire by himself, despite his family initially fearing the experience could become overwhelming.

But what began as a daunting five-day trip ended with Adam finding a new group of friends, going viral online and now securing the chance to perform at the festival in 2027.

Adam, known as Adzo to his friends, is a lifelong music fan and aspiring drum and bass DJ.

Ahead of Boomtown, however, both Adam and his family had concerns about how he would cope.

His dad, Andy, was so worried that the family had prepared an emergency evacuation plan, expecting Adam might want to come home within the first couple of days.

Instead, everything changed almost immediately.

Adam met a group of festival-goers who asked whether he had a mallet they could use while putting up 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, per BBC News.

Just 10 minutes after meeting the group, Adam’s festival experience had been completely transformed.

And when he sent his dad a message saying, ‘dad, I think I’ve found my people’, Andy said the family’s fears “melted away”.

Afterwards, Andy posted on social media to thank the “lads from Bristol” for taking his son under their wing, explaining that he wanted their parents to know “that their kids did all this out of kindness”.

The post went viral, eventually leading to Adam being reunited with the group at the Trident Pub in Bristol.

Ciaran, one of the group, said Adam had fitted in so naturally that: “It was almost like he drove to the festival with us.”

The attention also opened unexpected doors for Adam’s DJ ambitions, with several gigs booked following the viral story.

“It’s been overwhelming, but absolutely brilliant,” Adam added.

Now his journey has gone one step further.

Boomtown co-founder Luke Mitchell said the story had “circled around the Boomtown office with absolute joy”.

“Stories like this are why festivals are so incredibly important,” he said, before asking Andy: “Can we fix up a DJ set for Adam next year?”

Boomtown has since confirmed Adam has been asked to perform in 2027, with the stage and timings to be announced once programming begins.

For Andy, it represents a remarkable conclusion to a trip the family initially feared might last just a day or two.

“It’s made me really, really proud… Adam’s over the moon,” he said.

And after watching everything unfold, Andy summed up the past week simply: “It’s been lovely to see my son have all of his dreams realised in the past week.”

Featured image credit: adzodnb / Instagram