Air Guitar World Championships is the 2026 Oulu’s Etta
The 30-year-old Air Guitar World Championships has been awarded the 2026 Etta Title. Since 1983, the Oulu-Seura (Oulu Society) has presented the title to an entity that has significantly promoted the visibility and recognition of Oulu.
In its award criteria, Oulu-Seura describes the event as a “fun, absurd, and communal rock performance.”
“According to the ‘Make Air, Not War’ ideology, if everyone played air guitar, wars would end, climate change would stop, all evil things would vanish. Because you cannot hold a weapon while playing air guitar, the event is considered to champion peace,” the award criteria state.
In his speech at Rotuaari, Oulu on September 5, Jukka Takalo—the founder and original writer of the Air Guitar Championships—recalled that the very first competition in 1996 took place in that exact same spot. The ideal of peace has been woven into the contest from the start. The air guitar perspective on world peace is one of carnival and joy, serving as a counterweight to gloom and fist-shaking.
The Air Guitar World Championships are organised by Airnest Productions Oy, owned by the Oulu Cultural Events Association. The event is part of the Oulu August Festivals. Marjukka Manninen, Vice Chair of the company’s board, highlighted the visibility brought by the World Championships and its importance to the recognition and vitality of the entire region. In August 2026, media coverage of the Air Guitar World Championships reached 1.17 billion people, with an estimated media value of 11 million euros.
The most essential glue holding the Air Guitar World Championships together is the international community of air guitarists, who put the “Make Air, Not War” motto into practice across the globe and gather in Oulu every year to celebrate the message of peace and have fun together. This year, inspired by the event’s 30th anniversary and the European Capital of Culture year, over 50 air guitarists from 13 countries participated in Oulu. The championships have been streamed live online since 1999, and this year remote watch parties stretched all the way from Nepal to Canada.