The Wanstead Fringe is showcasing an array of talent from around east London this week including a discussion on the nature of suburban life with local author John Rogers and the Guardian's Hugh Muir, along with an evening photo walk with Geoff Wilkinson, which sold out.

There is still plenty to get involved with at the weekend. The Wanstead Tap, in Winchelsea Road, will be Inventing The Future on Thursday and the Kinema will be presenting Zootropolis at Christ Church in Wanstead Place on Friday.

Musician Pete Black will be holding guitar sessions at the Cherry Tree Café, in Wanstead, on Saturday, at 12.30pm, to encourage people of all ages to pursue his passion. Pete has played at the Ritz Hotel and Fulham Palace and was even on Sky TV's Guitar Star last year, where he made it to the finals and played in Ronnie Scott's in Soho. He believes the guitar can be learnt and enjoyed by people of all ages, regardless of their taste in music.

The 38-year-old, who was born in Leytonstone but grew up in Ilford, says: "Music changed my life and it turned me into a high achiever as although I had the intentions to do well at school, but my heart wasn't in it.

"Music is something that I have always had a passion and interest in and it gave me the desire to take the bull by the horns and achieve a lot and I want to show people that even if they don't do well at school, there is something else for them.

"At the Fringe, people can expect me to give demos of a lot of different styles of music. The guitar is the most popular instrument in the UK and is so versatile, as you can play Van Halen, jazz, punk or rock."

This will be Pete's first appearance at the Wanstead Fringe, but he is hoping that he will be able to inspire people to learn the guitar and carry on teaching members of the audience in the future.

He says: "There are about 20 people coming so far and I've offered them a couple of free lessons afterwards.

"Once I have done the demo at the beginning of the session, I'm going to get people involved and pull them out of the audience – but not force anyone, of course! We have a mix of ages attending, from six to 44, so I'll see who looks a bit willing and get a couple of guinea pigs to try out some songs.

"I want to show people how exhilarating playing the guitar is, as there are just so many styles. Playing rock on a stage in front of a crowd is a different buzz to sitting on a chair on your own and playing classical music to a quiet audience."

Pete's passion for strumming began as a child after his father taught him a couple of songs and at the age of 11, he gained a scholarship to the Redbridge Music Service, in Ilford.

He says: "I have been playing the guitar for 31 years now. When I was growing up, my dad played a little bit of guitar and taught me a couple of things before enrolling me in school lessons while I was at Wanstead Secondary School and I did quite well in those.

"During my scholarship, I got a taste of rock and so only attended the school until I was about 15, as decided I was going to be a rock star, as you do at that age.

"I didn't intend to go to university at first, as I thought about how so many musicians don't have qualifications. However, I ended up working in insurance at the age of 19 and started feeling a bit unhappy about the direction of my life, so began to go to evening classes to study music and then got into the University of Nottingham to study music. I've definitely had to work for it over the years."

Wanstead Fringe, until Saturday, September 17, details: wansteadium.com

By Rachel Russell