Video summary
The closing ceremony for Electromagnetic Field 2026 began with a humorous acknowledgment of the massive scale of the event, noting that the organizing team has grown so large it nearly caused the stage to collapse. While organizers invited all 316 members of the EMF team to join them on stage, they ultimately decided against it out of safety concerns, instead encouraging the volunteers to gather at the front or remain in their positions. The speakers expressed deep gratitude to the audience for being the easiest crowd they have ever encountered and emphasized that the entire event was driven by a passion for bringing like-minded people together rather than financial gain. They highlighted that despite the challenges faced during the festival, the team worked tirelessly, often sacrificing sleep and paid employment, to create an unforgettable experience for everyone present.
A significant portion of the speech was dedicated to sharing impressive statistics that illustrated the sheer volume of activity throughout the weekend. The event featured 684 pieces of content, including 141 installations, which far exceeded previous records, while the film crew projected over seven kilometers of 35 mm film. The volunteer kitchen served nearly 5,000 meals, surpassing expectations by about 2,000, and the bar sold over 10,000 pints alongside thousands of bottles of Club-Mate. Additionally, attendees made 64,000 phone calls totaling more than 16 days of conversation, and the design team produced over 15,000 stickers that covered every surface backstage. The organizers also noted unique occurrences such as the first wedding on site, a hacked cup washer used to access the camp network, and an incident where a welfare team assisted a very thirsty vole.
In addition to the statistics, the ceremony included exciting announcements regarding merchandise and future plans. Organizers revealed that the firmware for the EMF badges, which had been delayed due to a global chip shortage, was finally released after four years, allowing existing badges to function as intended hackable security dongles. They also confirmed that new badge expansions, including keyboard options previously unavailable due to shipping issues, would be made available online shortly after the event. The speakers thanked sponsors for their generosity and acknowledged the smoothest festival build in history, crediting it to the extraordinary skills and dedication of the crew who worked both on and off-site. They concluded by reminding attendees that while the main event was winding down, activities like live music, films, and late-night DJ sets would continue until midnight before teardown began the following afternoon.
As the ceremony drew to a close, the organizers issued important final instructions to ensure the field was left in pristine condition. Attendees were urged to take all their waste, including items from the swap shop that they had not purchased, and to stack their chairs outside rather than leaving broken ones behind. They reminded everyone to check for lost items at the info tent before departing, warning that unreclaimed goods might be gone for years. The speech ended with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to the event's success and a promise to see the community again in two years' time. With a final call to "pack the planet," the speakers wished everyone a safe journey home, emphasizing the importance of leaving the site exactly as they found it.
Read the full video transcript
[applause]
>> This is the point where I normally call
all of the EMF team to the stage to sit
on it. However, we are slightly worried
that the team is now so large the stage
might collapse.
We'd like to, but the kitchen's fed us
very well.
But, we're going to try anyway. However,
if it starts creaking they'll stand on
the floor. So, if you were part of the
team that organized the EMF this year,
of which there are 316 people,
we are not going to be on stage, but you
can sit on the floor or stand around.
But, can you at least come to the front?
You don't have to if you don't want to.
So,
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> We're all now going to loom ominously
over you.
>> That is fine.
>> [applause]
[cheering]
[applause]
[cheering and applause]
[applause]
>> 51
>> [cheering]
>> It's never been big enough.
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> I think at that point we might just need
to stand either side cuz Will's just
told me what the stage capacity is and
I'm getting nervous. So,
we're stopping there.
>> [laughter]
>> Uh ooh, my slides have got knocked.
So, welcome to the end of
Electromagnetic Field 2026.
We really hope you've had a good time.
>> [applause]
>> It's the easiest audience I've ever had.
This is great.
>> [laughter]
>> We really hope you've all found a new
interest or had an experience that you
will always remember. Hopefully good
ones.
The reason why we all work on this event
is unpaid and for fun by the way.
Pardon.
>> [laughter]
>> Is because we want to bring all of you
like-minded people together and we
dearly hope you've had a wonderful
weekend.
So much has happened over the last few
days, it's impossible to mention it all.
Most of us haven't even seen it.
But as tradition, we must go through
through some statistics for you.
>> [cheering]
[applause]
>> It's what you're all here for.
We have had 684 pieces of content of
which 141 of those were installations.
This is far more than we have ever had
before and all of the speakers who gave
it are wonderful people. Thank you so
much for what you did.
>> [cheering and applause]
[applause]
>> And because people keep asking, the most
popular talk was how to break into
buildings with boobs.
Which
somehow was more popular than the
closing ceremony, which has never
happened before.
>> [cheering]
>> I'm not too offended, but you know,
don't do it again.
The film crew projected over 7 km of 35
mm film.
>> [cheering and applause]
>> Which is 7 km more than they projected
last time.
Our design team made over 15,000
stickers, which explains why everything
backstage is now utterly covered in
stickers.
And you all made 64,000 phone calls on
the phone system and when I last looked
about half an hour ago, totaling over 16
days of conversation.
Which thoroughly disproves that nerds
don't like to use top phones.
>> [cheering]
>> As of 3:00 p.m., the volunteer kitchen
had served almost 5,000 meals, which I
believe is approximately
>> [applause]
>> That's approximately 2,000 more than
they expected to serve when we first
arrived on site.
They also accidentally filled two boots
with onion gravy.
>> [laughter]
>> I have an incorrect fact, it was only
one boot.
And one member of the kitchen team has
logged over 42.5 hours in the walk-in
fridge. Which at first
I I was horrified by that and then I
realized that they had the only
air-conditioned office on site.
You've all volunteered for a total of
26.6 weeks of time, which we've
calculated to roughly 2.5 working years.
So, thank you for all of that and we
cannot thank you enough for everything
you've done.
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> We sold 10,342
pints in the bar and 3,200 bottles of
Club-Mate. Which is all mate
mate.
Any Germans in the audience can talk to
me afterwards. It's fine.
There are 2,651
pints remaining.
Please report to your nearest bar after
the ceremony is over.
3,532
coffees were made by people playing
OverBrewed.
>> [applause]
>> Which it turns out is over 1,000 more
than the actual coffee stand.
>> [applause]
>> So, we're going to employ all of you
next time.
That was a training mission.
We also had one hacked cup washer in the
bar.
>> [laughter]
>> By someone who was hostile to us and
used it to access the camp network.
Of course, we already have a full
incident response.
>> [applause]
>> And for the first time, we had our first
wedding.
>> [cheering]
[applause]
[cheering]
[applause]
>> So, congratulations from all all of us.
We hope you're very happy.
Um I was I was put a picture up, but I
didn't wasn't sure if you'd enjoy that,
so uh you know, but it looked great.
Uh we also had our welfare team attended
an urgent incident where they assisted
one very thirsty vole.
As far as we know, the vole is fine, but
they haven't paid their bar tab.
>> [laughter]
>> So, we're done with statistics now. I've
got other things to talk about, too.
It's been wonderful seeing how many of
you've walked around wearing your
Tildagon badges this year or the
Spaceagon as it is this time.
The number of new expansions we've seen
is staggering, and I walked through the
market earlier on and
could not buy all of them. It was
absolutely wonderful.
If you didn't get a badge or a
Spaceagon, I know a lot of people still
want them. They will be available online
in the near future. I'm not saying when
because we're all quite tired, but it
will happen.
Including the remaining uh keyboard
expansions, which have not arrived yet
due to DHL, who cannot deliver to this
field.
>> FedEx.
>> FedEx. Oh, sorry, DHL.
It was FedEx.
But don't ever do that.
Um keep an eye on our mailing list for
updates. We will post it shortly after
the event.
I also have one more badge surprise.
Those of you who are here in 2022 should
recognize this.
This is the EMF badge. It was the badge
that we built against the odds during a
worldwide chip shortage. We planned for
it to function as a a hackable security
dongle for logging into websites, which
you're all probably quite familiar with
We planned for it to function as a a
hackable security dongle for logging
into websites, which you're all probably
quite familiar with by now.
When I announced this in the opening
ceremony, we said the firmware that
would enable that functionality would
come shortly after the event.
>> [laughter]
>> Unfortunately, the chips in it took
rather longer to get working than we
expected. In fact, they took 4 years.
However, I'm very pleased to announce
that the firmware that we announced 4
years ago has now been released.
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> If you can find wherever you left the
badge, it will now function as intended.
If you don't have one, it turns out we
have absolutely loads of them left and
we're putting those online of sale as
well.
Uh
again, after the event, we'll get back
to you with a date.
For a final time,
thank you to all of our sponsors for
making this possible. We genuinely could
not do this event without them. It would
be impossible.
Thank you so much for your generosity.
>> [applause]
[applause and cheering]
[applause]
>> And thank you for all the support you've
given us this year in so many different
ways it's hard to enumerate them all.
This has been the smoothest festival
build we've ever had.
And it's entirely down
to all of these people.
And also a lot of people who aren't here
cuz they're still out there in the field
working. Still till the end of the
event. They can't be here right now.
The actual event, unfortunately, was
challenging beyond belief for some of
us.
But the team rose up to meet the
challenges and did an incredible job.
I'm so impressed by the complex
situations they dealt with perfectly
every time.
So many people have worked tirelessly
both on and off the field giving up
their free time and sleep for over a
year and in most cases one most case
many cases giving up paid work, too.
Every one of us has done this for free
and even bought our own tickets to the
event.
It is a crew with extraordinary skills
and knowledge that I find deeply
humbling to work alongside.
And their passion and dedication is
unlike anything I've experienced
elsewhere.
Many thanks to all of them.
Can we please get a huge round of
applause for everyone here and everyone
still on the site?
>> [applause]
[cheering]
[applause]
[cheering]
[applause]
>> However, I do have to apologize for some
of the team being too good at their
jobs.
In the opening ceremony, I gave an
instruction at the end. I said,
"Null Sector, when you hear the bass
drop, you'll know where to go."
If you're new here, in previous years,
Null Sector was unavoidable. Everywhere
on site, you could not avoid the bass.
It was there all the time. And this
year, I had to ask if the DJs had
started yet, because I couldn't hear it
anymore.
So, I sincerely apologize to anyone in
the audience who didn't find Null
Sector.
Now, while this is the closing ceremony,
we're not quite done yet. EMF goes hard
till midnight.
>> [cheering]
>> And at least one village is doing
breakfast tomorrow morning.
There are films in Stage C.
Congratulations to film team.
>> [laughter]
>> Live music on D.
Congratulations to music team.
Uh and Null Sector has DJs and Rob's
amazing lasers throughout the night.
>> [applause]
>> Go out and explore the villages.
Have several last drinks at the robot
arms.
Genuinely several.
And savor our last few hours in this
field.
Also, if you have something made of EMF
fabric, or you're wearing something made
of EMF fabric, which a lot of you are,
can you please head to the bar at 7:45
for a group photo?
We'd really like to get all of you at
the once.
However, tomorrow
afternoon teardown begins,
and you all need to leave, or you might
get flattened by a telehandler.
Before you leave, please check you have
everything you came with. All of your
waste, everything, and including the
stuff in the swap shop that hasn't been
taken. You must take it home with you,
otherwise we're stuck getting rid of it.
If you've lost anything,
please visit the info tent now and
reclaim it, otherwise you might not get
it back for 2 years.
We're proud to have a clean field. We
want to leave it as we found it, and we
really need your help to do that.
So, please leave it as you found it when
you arrived, too.
If you leave a tent behind,
>> [laughter]
>> I will personally find you.
>> [cheering]
[applause]
>> And if you have any questions or
problems after the event, please
remember that we're all stuck here for
another week,
and the showers aren't working.
So,
please give us a little bit of time. We
will get back to you. All your questions
will be answered in time.
One last thing.
I'm pleased to say we'll see you here
again in 2 years' time at this site.
>> [cheering]
[applause]
>> As you leave, please pick up all your
chairs and stack them outside in the
containers, otherwise we have to do it.
If you can't, it's okay, leave it,
someone else will deal with it for you
do with it for you.
>> Don't put back in broken chairs.
>> That was a service announcement, so
please don't put back broken chairs.
Thank you for coming.
Please make sure you have water with you
on the way on the journey home, and we
wish you a safe journey.
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> Until we meet again, pack the planet.
>> Pack the planet!
>> [cheering]
>> Pack the planet!