Viral ‘Seagull Boy’ to judge Weston-super-Mare competition | UK News

An 11-year-old who went viral for his seagull-mimicking skills is set to judge a local screeching competition.

Cooper, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, will be the guest of honour at the first ever Weston-super-Mare Seagull Screeching Championship on Sunday.

‘Seagull Boy’ became an overnight sensation aged just nine after winning a European championship in 2024, and went on to defend his title in April.

Now he will bring his talents to the North Somerset town to judge two competitions – one for under-12s and another for teenagers and adults.

David Peters, tourism marketing officer for Weston-super-Mare, told the : “We saw Cooper on television and on the internet – he was all over the place.

“Basically, as soon as we saw him, we just thought that we had to get him down to Weston-super-Mare.

“It is just such a fun event and he is so good at what he does that we just thought ‘this is so Weston’.”

Since first going viral in 2024, Cooper has been interviewed by TV and radio stations around the world, was followed by a Korean film crew for three days as part of a documentary about seagulls and even won €1,000 (£867) on a German game show.

Weston-super-Mare’s version of the event will take place at the Stacks Lounge, inside the Sovereign Shopping Centre, from midday on Sunday.

Entrants have been asked to sign up via email, but a limited number of places will also be available on the day from 10:30 to 11:30 BST.

“We’ve got two categories, so there’s no excuses for not taking part really,” said Mr Peters.

“[In] the over 12s we’re also including parents, grandparents – anybody who can make a seagull call, we want to hear from them.”