Air Guitar World Championship 2026: The Angus defends title
The 2026 Air Guitar World Champion is Aapo ”The Angus” Rautio, defending the title and winning the second time in a row in Oulu, Finland during an all-time great and very special final: The Air Guitar World Championships are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.
The contest took place on the Delta Life stage built over the water. The competition was part of the Delta Life festival weekend, a summer highlight of the European Capital of Culture year. The competition and the Delta Life show were watched by 5,000 people on-site and tens of thousands worldwide via live stream.
Inspired by the 30-year milestone and the European Capital of Culture year, over 50 air guitarists from 13 countries were competing in Oulu. Remote viewing parties span from Nepal to Canada.
Results of the Saturday’s Final:
1. Aapo ”The Angus” Rautio, Finland, 34,8
2. Nanami ”Seven Seas” Nagura, Japan 34,4
3. Saladin ”Six String Sal” Thomas, USA 33,4
4. Kirill ”Guitarantula” Blumenkrants, France 33,4
5. Sam ”Airlo Guv’na” Nicoresti, United Kingdom 32,9
6. Apolline “Lady Attila” Andreys, France 32,2
7. Fausto ”Heavyer Dannair” Carraro, Brazil , 32,0
8. Howard ”Devil Narcissus” Lo, Taiwan, 31,9
The three-day Delta Life event concluded the month-long Oulu August Festivals and was held in Pokkisenpuisto park—the birthplace of Oulu—from August 27 to 29. Admission to the event was free.
This year’s finals featured the national champions of participating nations plus the top four contestants from the Dark Horses Qualifying round, who opened the competition. The running order:
Dave “Iron Age” Chen, Taiwan
Toshio “Shariten KD” Kado, Japan
Frédéric ”French Kiss” Reau, France
Apolline “Lady Attila” Andreys, France
Léonard ”Lenny Pocket” Pollet, Belgium
Tyler ”Cat Friday” Gardner, Canada
Fausto ”Heavyer Dannair” Carraro, Brazil
Aapo ”The Angus” Rautio, 2025 World Champion, Finland
Nanami ”Seven Seas” Nagura, Japan
Howard ”Devil Narcissus” Lo, Taiwan
Armin ”The Arminator” Van Schie, The Netherlands
Saladin ”Six String Sal” Thomas, USA
Patrick ”Ehrwolf Van Airhoven” Culek, Germany
Kirill ”Guitarantula” Blumenkrants, France
Sam ”Airlo Guv’na” Nicoresti, Great Britain
The Dark Horse qualifying round on Thursday was watched by 2500 people at Pokkisenpuisto park in Oulu. The other competitors in the Dark Horses Qualifying were:
Sven “Spandex” Smith, Great Britain
Minami “Yometen KD” Kado, Japan
Eero “One Last Comeback” Ojala, Finland
David “The Incredible D.FendAIR” Monreal, Germany
Cole “Slappy Nutz” Lindbergh, USA
Piers “The Joke’Air” Burnell, Great Britain
Michael “Airvant-God” Lovely, USA
Argo “String Theory” Thompson, USA
Zachary “Ichabod Fame” Knowles, Canada
Brittany “The Beast Georgia Lunch” Diaz, USA
Luke “Lucky Luke” Sevcik, USA
Air guitar is played together for world peace. According to the competition’s ideology, wars would end, climate change would stop, and bad things would vanish if everyone in the world played the air guitar. The discipline also champions equality—literally anyone can pick up an air guitar at any time.
The Air Guitar World Championships are organized by the Oulu-based company Airnest Productions Ltd, which is owned by the Oulu Cultural Events Association.
You can watch the performances and the Delta Life Event as stream here https://airguitarworldchampionships.com/en/stream/
Photo: Roosa-Maria Kauppila / Oulu August Festivals
