Electromagnetic Field (also known as EMF, or EMF Camp) is a camping festival in the UK, held every two years, for hackers, geeks, engineers and scientists.[1] It features talks and workshops covering a wide variety of topics.[2] EMF is a non-profit event run entirely by a team of volunteers.[3]
| Electromagnetic Field | |
|---|---|
 Overhead view of Electromagnetic Field 2018 | |
| Status | active |
| Frequency | Biennially |
| Country | England |
| Inaugurated | August 2012 |
| Founder | Jonty Wareing, Russ Garrett |
| Most recent | 2-5 June 2022 |
| Next event | 30 May - 2 June 2024 |
| Participants | 2500 |
| Filing status | Not for profit |
| Website | emfcamp.org |
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.[4]
History edit
The first Electromagnetic Field event was held in 2012 at Pineham in 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[5] which provided 370 Mbit/s[6] to the campsite. Over 50 speakers gave talks, including Ben Goldacre.[7]
In 2013, a smaller interim one-day event called Electromagnetic Wave was held in London on board the MS Stubnitz.[8]
The main event was held again in 2014 at Hounslow Hall Estate, Newton Longville (near Milton Keynes). Over 1,200 tickets were sold.[9] As with the 2012 event, internet was provided by a direct microwave link which provided 436 Mbit/s.[10] 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.[11] In addition there were 45 'villages'[12] 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[13] 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.[14]
Electromagnetic Field 2018 was held on 31 August – 2 September 2018[15] at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire.[16] 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.[17] However the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[18]
Electromagnetic Field 2022 was held on 2-5 June 2022 at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire.[19] The attendance was 2,500.
List of events edit
| No. | Date | Location | Attendance | Internet connection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 31 August – 2 September 2012[20] | Pineham Park, Milton Keynes | 499 | 370 Mbit/s (direct microwave link) |
| 2nd | 29-31 August 2014[21] | Hounslow Hall Estate, Newton Longville, Milton Keynes | > 1,200 | 436 Mbit/s (direct microwave link) |
| 3rd | 5-7 August 2016 | Loseley Park, Guildford | > 1,600 | 1 Gbit/s (fibre) |
| 4th | 31 August – 2 September 2018 | Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire | 2,500 | 1 Gbit/s (fibre)[22] |
| 5th | 2-5 June 2022 | Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire[23] |
2,500 |
|
| 6th | 30 May - 2nd June 2024 | Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire |
Synchronization with other events edit
In the years when Electromagnetic Field does not occur, Chaos Communication Camp (in Germany) and one of the Hack-Tic hacker events (in the Netherlands) occur alternately.
References edit
- ^ Steadman, Ian (20 August 2012). "Inquisitive minds gather to camp out in the Electromagnetic Field". Wired. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ "EMF Camp talks". Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "Company Details - Electromagnetic Field". Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Announcing TiLDA MKe, the incredible EMF 2014 camp badge". Electromagnetic Field Blog. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Geek camp comes to Milton Keynes". BBC News. 31 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "EMF Camp, the site and Networking". Electromagnetic Field Blog. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field 2012 - Electromagnetic Field". Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Wave". 14 May 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013.
- ^ Shaw, Dougal (2 September 2014). "Electromagnetic Field: Can geeks get kids into science?". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ "Megabits to a farm: Getting Internet to a hacker camp". Electromagnetic Field Blog. 23 August 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field 2014 - Electromagnetic Field". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Villages - Electromagnetic Field 2022". wiki.emfcamp.org. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ @emfcamp (10 September 2015). "We're very excited to announce the date and location for EMF 2016" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field - Network configuration" (PDF). 16 June 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023 – via GitHub.
- ^ @emfcamp (8 August 2017). "If you enjoyed #SHA2017, why not come to EMF 2018, Aug 31 - Sep 2, 2018 in the lovely west of England. More info soon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @emfcamp (18 December 2017). "It's time to finally announce the location for EMF 2018: the lovely Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @emfcamp (22 May 2019). "We can now announce that Electromagnetic Field will return to Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire next year: July 24th-26th, 2020" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field 2020 is cancelled". 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field Returns: 2nd-5th June 2022". 3 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "EMF Camp 2012 - Nottinghack Wiki". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "EMF Camp 2014 - Nottinghack Wiki". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "Electromagnetic Field - Network configuration" (PDF). 16 June 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023 – via GitHub.
- ^ List, Jenny (5 July 2022). "Hacker Camps Post-Pandemic, Electromagnetic Field 2022". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.