27-05-2025
BGT's Olly Pearson wowed at 'first festival'
The Wrexham youngster secured the golden buzzer for the second time during the semi-final earlier this month to ensure that he'll be one of ten hopefuls competing for the hit show's main prize on Saturday, May 31.
The 11-year-old guitarist has been performing across social media and at shows in both Wrexham and Chester since picking up the instrument at around age seven.
A Chester photographer who spotted him at the Handbridge Summer Festival in 2023, says his talent was evident even then.
'I'd been documenting some of the events near the centre of Chester and I'd walked over to the Co-op car park [for the festival].
'I heard the music, and I thought 'That sounds good', and I walked around the corner and here's this little lad, and I think he was playing Apache at the time,' says Jeff Price.
He saw Olly with his grandad, Lee, stood to the side of the stage.
Lee told him that he had begun teaching Olly the guitar just a few years before.
Jeff, who's photographed several bands down the years including Deep Purple, Whitesnake, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, added that he was struck by his ability at such a young age.
'The first time I photographed him, I think he was about nine, and I thought it was bloody marvellous.
'When I saw [he'd made the final] I thought, this is amazing.'
Olly's mum, Sarah, described the event as "Olly's first festival" in a Facebook post at the time.
The youngster will now be hoping to wow Simon Cowell and his fellow judges one again when he takes to the stage this weekend.
You can watch Olly performing in this year's BGT final on ITV and ITVX on Saturday, May 31.
