The sanctuary was one of many well-thought-out experiences on offer throughout the course of the weekend, topped only by some high-stakes arm wrestling at the U-Haul Dyke Bar and a darts championship at beloved pub/venue The Packet Inn, which was fitted out with its own makeup of fruit machines and rave photography. And of course there’s the field itself, home to mirrored art installations, cosy hay bales and FM’s very own stab at the Giant Pink Bunny of Colletto Fava, slightly shrunken but just as comfortable for a midday pow-wow.

Self-appointed monikers like ‘the worst rave ever’ don’t quite do justice to the magic of this intimate spectacle, which stressed the power of community and political action at Saturday sets for the likes of 1800 Dyke Rescue. Elsewhere, the good times rolled on in full force with in-your-face grime and reggaeton cuts from Florentino and a delectable b2b from Tasha and MJK to celebrate 15 years of the famed club night, Neighbourhood.

Spotted outside of a newly-enlarged Sputnik, an official home to the festival’s more rave-fuelled offering was Jack Scollard, one half of the party-starting print press-cum-club night SMUT. “What kind of music will you be playing?” asks a cig-rolling security guard for their Dalston Superstore takeover the following evening. Without missing a beat, their reply sums it up swiftly: “The best…”

Inside the tent, one of the weekend’s most-anticipated performances was underway courtesy of Sheffield’s Queen of Bassline, Big Ang, who held court at Sofa Sofa’s House of Garage takeover. As the beloved hero of a new generation of UK bass selectors, Ang’s smattering of back-to-back organ house bangers attracted quite the frenzy, with legions of sweaty ravers clamouring around the tent’s entrance for a few hours of power stomping. She even treated us to an impromptu b2b with the legendary garage powerhouse Jeremy Sylvester, bringing proceedings to a close with a sweeping high-five for the entire front row.

Sunday, unofficially dubbed ‘gay day’ around the campgrounds, promised just as much action with programming from a cohort of Dalston Superstore regulars. Outside at The Lake, J. Aria and Shivum Sharma went b2b with slinky edits of diva classics from the likes of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, their hype-bringing gogo dancers all sporting lurid green wigs as an ode to London club doyenne Nawty Nicky. Inside the (incredibly sweaty) Field Maneuevers Main Tent, Jordan Hearns and Someone Sunny took the reins with lingering cuts of bass house and some mesmeric Ibiza Final Boss visuals. “It takes a lot to stand out from the crowd in such an incredibly saturated festival market, but FM really has its heart in the right place,” the SMUT crew tell me later on. “It’s not about the individual experience, but rather about the collective.”

“What I love is that FM feels like hedonism in its purest form – the perfect balance of impeccable programming, a truly diverse crowd, gloriously unhinged entertainment (shout out Slopulence), and a real commitment to staying independent and DIY rather than leaning into capitalistic festival culture,” Sunny adds. “FM is serious about being unserious!”

Choosing between ISAbella and Midland vs. Gracie T and Ahadadream, who closed out South Asian artist collective, Dialled In’s takeover, proved almost impossible – though it was the latter who clinched it for us in the end. Through the mist, copious amounts of bassline and one divine Madonna needle-drop, scenes of friends and strangers giggling and grinding to their heart’s content will be forever burned into our retinas, a reminder of the spellbinding energy Field Manuevers continues to muster amongst its troops, year in, year out.

After all that, you can imagine that setting off home on Monday was a bittersweet affair for all involved, at least if the many weary-eyed ravers hobbling along FM’s main camp trail were anything to go by. “Cheer up,” says one walking pair of eye bags as he passes a group stuffing their belongings back into flaccid campsacks, “we’ve always got next year.”

More tickets for Field Maneuvers 2026 will be on sale on Friday, 26 September. Get notified here