World Championship air guitar donated to the City of Oulu
Air Guitar World Champion Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard has donated to the City of Oulu the air guitar with which he won the World Championship in Oulu in 2012. Mayor of Oulu Ari Alatossava and Director of Administration Ari Heikkinen received the guitar on Friday, 28 August.
Nordic Thunder’s air guitar has carried a message of peace and love around the world while also helping to put Oulu on the international map. The guitar has appeared at events including the Matka Nordic Travel Fair in Helsinki, the World Expo in Kazakhstan and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.
“Oulu and its people mean a great deal to me. Oulu has taught me how to be a better person towards myself and others. I have received so much from this city and the air guitar community that I want to give something back,” Howard says.
The City of Oulu and the international air guitar community have worked together for 30 years. Howard, who lives in Chicago, has been part of the international air guitar community since 2006 and has visited Oulu 18 times. At Saturday’s World Final, Howard will once again meet Mayor Alatossava, who will proclaim the Air Guitar Peace Declaration at the event.
“On behalf of the entire city, I would like to thank Justin for this wonderful donation and for all the work he has done for Oulu over the years. The message of the Air Guitar World Championships, Make Air, Not War, is powerful and more important than ever in the world today. I hope that the long-standing cooperation between the City of Oulu and the international air guitar community will continue in the future and that together we can keep the message of world peace alive,” Mayor Ari Alatossava says.
Howard’s World Championship air guitar is not intended to remain behind glass. The City’s aim is for the guitar to continue spreading the message of world peace in the years to come.
Air guitar heritage also preserved in the museum collections
Air guitar and the international community that has grown around it are part of Oulu’s cultural heritage. An air guitar donated in 2025 has also been added to the collections of the Northern Ostrobothnia Museum to document a phenomenon that spread from Oulu to the rest of the world and the intangible cultural heritage associated with it.
The donated air guitar will go on public display for the first time when the Tiima Museum and Science Centre opens in October 2026.