About Electromagnetic Field

Imagine a camping festival with a power grid and high-speed internet access; a temporary village of geeks, crafters, and technology enthusiasts that's lit up by night, and buzzing with activity during the day. Thousands of curious people will descend on our friendly open space to learn, share, and talk about what they love.

Over a long weekend, you can expect to see a huge variety of talks across three stages, a slew of workshops, as well as music, games, and installations dotted around the site.

At previous events we've heard talks about everything from genetic modification to electronics, blacksmithing to high-energy physics, reverse engineering to lock picking, computer security to crocheting, and quadcopters to brewing.

Talks and workshops start at 11am on Friday and last until the Sunday evening. Gates open at 10am on Thursday, giving you plenty of time to get onto the site and set up your camp. You can stay until midday on Monday so you can enjoy the festivities on Sunday night.

We're inviting attendees to set up their own villages — camps within the camp — where like-minded people can camp together and put on their own activities. Our hard-working team of volunteers will supply you with power and internet to your tent.

We're working to provide the field with a fast, reliable internet connection. You'll also be able to take advantage of our well-stocked bar selling great beer, cider, and soft drinks at distinctly non-festival prices. Sadly we can't get hold of the motorway bridge that housed the bar in 2012.

Attendees have the chance to get a conference badge unlike any you've seen before. Our badge is a full-blown microcontroller with some secret features we think you'll love. After the event, instead of sitting in a drawer, it's fully reprogrammable to do whatever you want.

We want EMF to be as family-friendly as possible: thanks to our generous sponsors, we have been able to provide free childcare run by professionals since 2014, and we'll be doing the same again.

What makes Electromagnetic Field unique is that everything is created by attendees like you. The entire event — stewarding, water, electricity, internet, stages, toilets, and the bar — is organised by a dedicated team of volunteers, and everyone who turns up does their part to make the event an amazing place to be for a weekend. We're a non-profit organisation, so every penny you spend on your ticket goes towards making the event happen.

Expect to run into spork-making workshops, bottle rocket launches, high altitude balloon releases, ad-hoc music installations and so much more.

Here's what BBC News had to say when they visited the very first EMF.

We hope we've given you a taste of what EMF is all about, but you have to be there to experience it all.