Sometime ago, Himself told me of a festival. Organised by like minded people, held every two years, which focused on….well a bit of everything really. Then he told me that there was a programmable badge, and I was sold.
About the Festival
The EMF site states:
“Electromagnetic Field is a non-profit camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists, and engineers.
https://www.emfcamp.org/
A temporary town of nearly three thousand like-minded people enjoying a long weekend of talks, performances, and workshops on everything from blacksmithing to biometrics, chiptunes to computer security, high altitude ballooning to lockpicking, origami to democracy, and online privacy to knitting.
To help matters along, we provide fast internet, power to the tent, good beer, and amazing installations, entirely organised by a dedicated team of volunteers.”
They offered a carer ticket, and has accessibility information on their site, including that there was indeed accessible camping, so we went ahead and booked.
What happens at EMF
The festival itself runs from Friday to Sunday, with Thursday and Monday being set up/tear down days. EMF consists of a number of stages/workshops and lots of little ‘villages’ in the camping areas. Villages are clusters of people with similar interests, and visiting is highly encouraged. These could be already existing groups (like MakerSpaces or the Scouts), interest based (like crafting with textiles, digital crafting, board gaming, or robotics) or more demographic (such as the Furry High Commission, which was a hub of activity for LGBTQIA+ based mixers).
There are a number of talks on three stages throughout the event, some of which are paid speakers, but they also look for volunteers. These varied in subjects, from a cardiologist talking about health influencers, to someone talking about calendar systems, or someone tearing down and looking at the programming behind an industrial coffee machine. Talks were advertised prior, and you were encouraged to add them to your schedule.
Workshops were pre-bookable, some of which cost extra; usually to cover the cost of materials supplied. There were workshops on forging your own spork, robotics for children, a wide variety of activities! I didn’t partake on this occasion, as they usually required some level of dexterity.
There were installations, games and other interesting things to engage with and enjoy, and ultimately people were encouraged to be curious, explore and see what happens.
Null Sector was an area that really came alive after dark, with lots of music and lasers. Due to my fatigue and sensory issues (and the fact that my wheelchair was struggling with terrain), we didn’t make it there, but by all accounts, there was again lots going on!
There was all manner of other things – the festival had a phone network set up, with posters around encouraging you to call numbers. Wired high speed internet was available, as well as WiFi!
Tildagon – The EMF Badge
One of the highlights for me was the programmable badge that you could buy (for £13). This ESP32 driven badge allowed for programming, downloading apps and expansions (dubbed ‘hexpansions’) to be inserted…. and it has LEDs Now, I am at the beginning of my journey learning Python, so I haven’t had the opportunity to play too much since getting home, but I fully intend to experiment with what I’ve learnt as time goes on.
Accessibility
I attended EMF as an ambulatory wheelchair user, with Himself attending as my carer.
EMF had organised accessible parking, and an accessible campsite, which was located next to the family camping area, in the quieter part of the festival. There was both an accessible toilet, and accessible shower located very close by.
EMF does take place in a field, and whilst tracks were placed to have a main thoroughfare, there was a lot of ‘off-roading’ required, which was difficult given how wet it had been the couple of weeks before. Many vehicles found themselves stuck in mud during the set up, and me and my powerchair had a few difficulties when going over grass. This was mentioned in their accessibility information, so it was not a surprise.
The accessible facilities themselves were almost always clean (we had an experience at 4am in the morning where the toilet clearly was full, but the unit was still nice and clean and tidy), I rarely had to wait, and if I did, it felt like people were using the facilities appropriately. (There were plenty of standard toilet facilities provided, so it felt like people didn’t feel the need to abuse the admittedly less frequently used accessible toilet).
We did have some minor issues with regards to camping, and other people pitching up very close to us. I don’t know for sure, but I think the accessible camping suffered with an overspill of family camping without people knowing, as the areas were not clearly marked. Himself did a stunning job of marking our tent as one that needed accessibility, and people did try to ensure guy ropes were kept close to their tents – we didn’t have any issues with speaking with our neighbours and asking them to help keep some clearance for me.
Along a similar line, there didn’t appear to be any wheelchair spaces marked in the staging tents, which meant I often just had to park up in the aisle, which could, and did cause some issues with me creating a bottleneck.
I was approached by EMF’s diversity champion, and by Jonty, the main organiser, and gave my feedback on small improvements that can be made in order to help those with limited mobility. I felt like they genuinely did want to do their best, and that feedback they receive will be listened to and taken into account when organising the next EMF.
As for me, this was my first big adventure since the stroke, and my first real experience of being a powerchair user. I had to take many a nap in order to get through, and due to the ground being so uneven, I was finding my pain was worsened. (It is a good core workout though!). We did learn though, that I can get myself out of many situations, torque is often key in doing so, and that I have more resilience than we thought!
Final thoughts
EMF is a family friendly, neurodiverse, LGBTQIA+ positive atmosphere. The talks and workshops felt like people were excitedly sharing their hyperfocus, and that brings me such joy!
I’m already looking forward to EMF 2026, and highly recommend attending. Its a reasonably priced festival, and I guarantee, you’ll find your tribe.