US Air Guitar Championships - Irvine

Founded in 2003, US Air Guitar is the official air guitar association of the United States and is responsible for operating the US Air Guitar Championships, Regional and Finals competitions, All-Star showcases and online contests. US Air Guitar is devoted to taking our nation’s unofficial pastime out of the bedroom and putting it up on the world stage. US Air Guitar is an official member of the World Air Guitar Association. Entering its twenty-first year in the US and its twenty-sixth year worldwide, official national championships are held in countries around the globe and have included: the USA, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, The Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, with new countries participating every year. The 2023 Air Guitar World Championships will take place this August 25th in Oulu, Finland.

“It is for good reason that competitive air guitar is widely considered the purest form of human entertainment. By making the heart of the matter invisible—by objectifying nothing—air guitar derives its legitimacy not from some received expectation of cultural value, but rather from the mere presence of the people gathered to bear witness. The competitors, the judges, and the crowd are the only proof that this event even exists. And as a result, its meaning is purely subjective. Every air guitar is an empty vessel, resistant to banal interpretation. And thus, impossible to destroy.”

–Kriston Rucker, co-commissioner, US Air Guitar