Woljeongsa to Host 2026 Odaesan Cultural Festival from October 8–10… Featuring Meditation, Music, Gastronomy, and AI Programs

Woljeongsa Temple, the head temple of the 4th District of the Jogye Order, will hold the ‘2026 Odaesan Cultural Festival’ for three days from October 8 to 10. The event will take place within the grounds of Woljeongsa Temple, the Fir Forest, Forest of Dependent Origination, and Dongnim Seonwon, under the theme ‘Asking Myself, Connecting the World.’

This year's festival goes beyond merely showcasing traditional Buddhist culture and is structured in a way that allows visitors to walk, listen, meditate, and experience things firsthand. Woljeongsa plans to weave together nature, practice, and art to create a time for people to briefly step away from daily life and reflect on themselves. This flow is also interpreted as an attempt to expand the scope of the event from a religious ceremony into a regional cultural festival.

The representative program is ‘Mind Ground.’ Singing bowl sound baths, introduction to seated meditation, fir forest forest bathing, somatic movement, journaling workshops, earphone walking meditation, tea meditation and tea ceremony, morning yoga meditation, and aroma/incense blending will be held consecutively in the Forest of Dependent Origination, Dongnim Seonwon, and the Fir Forest Path. On October 9, ‘Hwaeom Meditation Gathering - A Day in the Buddha’s Life, A Day in Ours’ will be held at the Great Dharma Wheel Hall, covering music, food, AI/future, and visual arts together.

On the 10th, ‘A Table Above the Clouds’ will be prepared in the Forest of Dependent Origination with the master of temple food, Venerable Seonjae. Performances for ‘Garden of Sound’ will also continue on the 9th and 10th. On the 9th, the Park Wan Musical Gala Concert will be held with the Andy Kim Band and Raum Musical, and on the 10th, the La Ventana World Music Concert will take the stage with sheng player Kim Hyo-young and jazz vocalist Nam Ye-ji.

During the festival period, hands-on experiences and exhibitions will also take place. In the courtyard in front of Hwaeomnu, activities such as making lotus lanterns and prayer beads, coloring mandalas and the Octagonal Nine-Story Stone Pagoda, rubbing the Octagonal Nine-Story Stone Pagoda, and experiencing the striking of the dharma bell will be provided. At Hwaeomnu, the special invitation exhibition by ink wash painter Lee Yeo-un, ‘A Thousand Years of Architecture Blossoming in Ink,’ will be held. On the first day, October 8, the procession for the Buddha's true body relics, the Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony, the opening theme performance, and the Pagoda Circling Festival are scheduled. Woljeongsa stated that it hopes this event will serve as a place to experience the value of thousand-year-old Buddhist culture within today's life.