Air Guitar on the Delta Life stage
Dozens of artists will take to a stage built on water at the close of the Oulu August Festivals.
The outdoor event 27–29 August that crowns the summer of 2026 and the Oulu August Festivals will include, alongside the Air Guitar World Championships, a 45-minute spectacular Delta Life show. In the show, music, movement and light art combine to create a carnivalesque yet deeply moving experience.
The show will be presented on three evenings from 8.45 pm to 10.45 pm on the Delta Stage. Admission is free, and the event will also be live-streamed worldwide. Pre-parties and after-parties will take place at dozens of venues across the city.
A show at the city’s birthplace
One of the most distinctive features of the event is the Delta Stage constructed on water in the Pokkisenväylä sea area, between Linnansaari and the Radisson Hotel.
This unprecedented stage solution has required seabed surveys and a wide range of technical studies. Construction will take place throughout August and will require, among other specialists, professional divers. In this technically ambitious project, the stage itself forms a central part of the artistic concept and the overall experience. Along the shoreline, at the very edge of the city’s grid plan, nature creates its own opera house.
The stage, more than 40 metres wide, will rise to a height of approximately 25 metres. The massive structure is estimated to require up to 8 kilometres of steel piping.
Programme schedule
Thursday 27 August 2026
Delta Stage:
20.45 Air Guitar World Championships – Dark Horses Qualifier
21.45 Pre-show
22.00 Open dress rehearsal: Delta Life show
Friday 28 August 2026
18.00–20.00 Pre-parties across the city (programme and venues to be confirmed)
Delta Stage:
20.45 Air Guitar World Championships – Final, Round 1
21.45 Pre-show
22.00 Delta Life show
22.45 After-parties across the city (programme and venues to be confirmed)
Saturday 29 August 2026
18.00–20.00 Pre-parties across the city (programme and venues to be confirmed)
Delta Stage:
20.45 Air Guitar World Championships – Final, Round 2
21.45 Pre-show
22.00 Delta Life show
22.45 After-parties across the city (programme and venues to be confirmed)