Electromagnetic Field (festival)
Electromagnetic Field is a camping festival in the UK, held every two years, for hackers, geeks, engineers and scientists. It features talks and workshops covering a wide variety of topics. EMF is a non-profit event run entirely by a team of volunteers.
Attendees of EMF receive an electronic conference badge, funded by sponsorship, which in 2014 included an LCD screen, Arduino-compatible microcontroller, and a radio transceiver.
History
The first Electromagnetic Field event was held in 2012 at Pineham Park, near Milton Keynes, and completely sold out a 499-person capacity. Each tent at EMF 2012 was provided with power and the internet, via a 2.5 km direct microwave link to a data centre which provided 370 Mbit/s to the campsite. Over 50 speakers gave talks, including Ben Goldacre.In 2013, a smaller interim one-day event called Electromagnetic Wave was held in London on board the MS Stubnitz.
The main event was held again in 2014 at Hounslow Hall Estate, again near Milton Keynes. Over 1,200 tickets were sold. As with the 2012 event, internet was provided by a direct microwave link which provided 436 Mbit/s. The entire event had over 100 talks, workshops and events with a separate track for children. Notable speakers included Tom Watson MP and Simon Singh. In addition there were 45 'villages' that ran their own workshops and events including silver smithing, wood turning and making stroopwafels.
Electromagnetic Field 2016 was held on 5–7 August 2016 at Loseley Park, Guildford with an attendance of over 1,600. The 1 Gbit/s internet connection was provided by fibre, and the on-site network had a 10 Gbit/s backbone.
Electromagnetic Field 2018 was held on 31 August – 2 September 2018 at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire. The attendance was 2,500.
Electromagnetic Field 2020 was due to be held on 24–26 July 2020, again at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire. However the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
List of events
| No. | Date | Location | Attendance | Internet connection |
| 1st | 31 August – 2 September 2012 | Pineham Park, Milton Keynes | 499 | 370 Mbit/s |
| 2nd | 29-31 August 2014 | Hounslow Hall Estate, Newton Longville, Milton Keynes | > 1,200 | 436 Mbit/s |
| 3rd | 5-7 August 2016 | Loseley Park, Guildford | > 1,600 | 1 Gbit/s |
| 4th | 31 August – 2 September 2018 | Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire | 2,500 | 1 Gbit/s |
| 5th | July/August 2022 |