Air Guitar World Championship 2025 ends with a bang: Find out who was crowned!

Passionate performers from across the globe gathered to create magic in the air, competing not just with instruments in hand but with invisible guitars.

The 28th Air Guitar World Championship was held in Oulu, Finland, with contestants participating from 13 nations.

The criteria was pretty simple: each participant was judged on two one-minute performances, combing technical precision, originality and sheer “Airness.”

However, the most interesting thing about Air guitar World Championship was costumes and props were allowed, but real instrument were strictly banned.

Last week, on Friday (August 22,2025), 16 competitors from 13 nations performed in the final of the 2025 Air Guitar World Championships. The champion crowned was from Finland, Aapo “The Angus” Rautio, who won the world title in his music career for the first time.

“The Angus” brought laurels for Finland in 25 years

Rautio’s win was also the first time in 25 years that a competitor from Finland has won the world championship, as per the details available with the competition’s website.

Rautio beats Yuta Sudo from Japan. the two were tied after two rounds, requiring a tiebreaker.

Yuta Sudo aka "Sudo-Chan" from Japan performs during the first round of the final at the Air Guitar World Championship in Oulu, Finland, August 22, 2025.

The event is held yearly in front of thousands of people in the beautiful city of Oulu, in central Finland.

The Air Guitar World Championship has a very unique yet relevant message that it promotes: to promote world peace, with a motto of “Make air. Not War.”