And the winner of the 2025 Canadian Air Guitar Championships is…

On Saturday night (June 7), I was one of five judges for the Canadian Air Guitar Championships. At stake was a trip to the world championships in Oulu, a tiny town 540 kilometres north of Helsinki, Finland, in August. Canada is the defending champion with Hamilton’s Zacharcy “Ichabod Fame” Knowles currently at the top of the heap.

The Canadian event at Velvet Underground in Toronto featured regional winners from Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, as well as some “dark horse” contestants. These were the criteria for judging. (“Airness” is the je ne sais quoi that makes an air guitar player a star). Contestants had 60 seconds to show their stuff. (All photos by Henry VanderSpek of Culture Snap Photography.)

The lineup was wild. A crowd favourite was Hugeanus who dressed as a stalk of broccoli.

Here are some of the other competitors.

Your winner was Toronto champion, Danasaurus Rex.

All proceeds went to the Gord Downey-Chaney Wenjack Fund. Good luck to Dana–and Zach, who gets to defend his title.