What started with lending out a simple tent mallet turned into a weekend 23-year-old Adam James will never forget. The autistic drum & bass fan went to his first-ever major festival on his own, but at Boomtown, he was spontaneously welcomed into a group of festival-goers from Bristol. The story subsequently went viral and, according to Boomtown itself, shows exactly why festivals are so important.
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For Adam’s family, his first visit to Boomtown was quite nerve-racking beforehand. He had worked and saved all year to attend the British festival, but would be going there on his own. Because of his autism, his family wondered how he would cope with the crowds, noise and all the other stimuli that come with a festival of this size.
Once at the campsite, however, a chance encounter changed everything. Adam had brought a tent mallet and offered it to a group of festival-goers from Bristol to help them hammer in their tent pegs. When they discovered that he had come to Boomtown alone, they immediately decided to include him in their group. “Straight away, we moved his tent into our circle,” festival-goer Ciaran told the BBC. Adam still asked if they were sure about letting him join them. “Of course, without a doubt. It’s not even questionable.”
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“I’ve found my people”
What followed were, according to Adam, some of the best days of his life. His uncertainty disappeared as soon as he joined the group. “I wasn’t very confident in myself, but as soon as I was with them, I was fine,” he explains. “They could have just ignored me, but the fact they saw I was on my own and took me in was just amazing.”
During the weekend, Adam also told his new friends that he is autistic, something his father says he normally hardly ever shares with others. “They didn’t judge me for a second and that’s what I love about it,” Adam says.
It was only after the festival that his father Andy realised just how much the encounter had meant to his son. “He just ran up to me crying,” he says in a BBC video. Then came the words that still make him emotional: “I’ve found my people. I don’t want to ever leave. This has been the most amazing time of my life.”
Thank-you post to festival-goers goes viral
After Boomtown, Andy decided to share a post on Facebook. Not to make the story go viral, but mainly in the hope of reaching the group and their parents. “Their parents probably don’t know, their kids have just done something absolutely amazing,” he explains. In the post, he thanked the group for the way they had welcomed Adam. “They did it out of kindness and sheer bloody humanity.” The post subsequently took off, receiving tens of thousands of likes and shares.
Ciaran and his friends also came to realise just how much their seemingly small gesture had meant. When Adam told them about his autism during the weekend, nothing changed. Ciaran, who has ADHD himself, said he particularly appreciated that Adam felt comfortable enough to open up to the group. “All of them are just brilliant,” Adam looks back. “I’ve never met a good bunch of people in my life and these lot have just made me feel at home.”
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“Stories like this are why festivals are so incredibly important”
The story also made an impression on Boomtown. Co-founder Luke Mitchell described it as an example of why festivals are so important and asked Adam’s father: “Can we fix up a DJ set for Adam next year?” Boomtown has since confirmed that Adam will perform at the 2027 edition. He has also been offered several other gigs and was invited to take part in a DJ course.
For his father, all the positive attention means a great deal, especially as Adam has previously faced cruel comments online. What started with lending out a tent mallet has now led to new friends, several gigs and a spot behind the decks at Boomtown.
Images via: ADZODNB
