Summer Opening 2026

Cultivating the mind of love

Thich Nhat Hanh

From July 11th – August 3, 2026, Plum Village will welcome adults, families with children and teens, and practitioners of all ages to cultivate the mind of love together.

The teachings and practices will be for all ages with tailored programs for children and teenagers. Parents and adults coming without children will be able to enjoy the adult program together which includes dharma talks, meditations and group sharings.

To create space for more families, all retreatants (including children and teens) can register for one week only.

Please plan your retreat carefully to arrive and depart on the designated dates, especially if you are coming with children or teens so they can start the retreat together with their new friends. A weekly retreat will be 7 days. 

Programs for children aged 6-12 years old and teenagers aged 13-17 years old will take place in the different hamlets of Plum Village, according to language and gender. These hamlets are situated in different towns in the region.

Each program will have limited space and will require an application process, of which will follow a random selection. More details about this will be below.

Each child and/or teen would need to have an accompanying parent or adult guardian included in their application process. In some cases, your family may need to stay in different hamlets if the programs that you need for your children do not take place in the same hamlet (and therefore ensure an adult is registered in each hamlet with your child). During the week, there will be around four mornings when the whole community of three hamlets come together for the Dharma talks, walking meditation and picnic lunches.

• French children’s program – Upper Hamlet only – Week 1, 2 & 3
• Italian children’s program – Upper Hamlet only
  • Week 1: 6 – 9 ages only
  • Week 2: 6 – 12 ages only
  • Week 3: 9 – 12 ages only
• Spanish children’s program – Upper Hamlet only – Week 1, 2 & 3
• English children’s program – Lower Hamlet and New Hamlet – Week 1, 2 & 3
• Dutch children’s program – Lower Hamlet only – Week 3 only

Teens’ Program (aged 13-17 years old) 

• Teen boys’ program – Upper Hamlet – Week 1, 2 & 3
• Teen girls’ program – New Hamlet – Week 1, 2 & 3
  

We kindly ask that you apply only for children and/or teenagers who themselves wish to participate in these programs. The children and teens will need to be these ages at the time of the retreat. The program teams are not able to accept those who are younger or older than these age brackets.

Families are also welcome to bring children 5 years and younger, but there will be no dedicated program offered.

Accommodation
Please also note that camping is the main option for families in each hamlet. Teen boys in Upper Hamlet are also required to camp separately with their teen program members (however they remain close to the adult/family camping areas). Upper Hamlet and New Hamlet have some limited rooms reserved for families and can be requested during the application process.

We came to the Plum Village summer retreat for the first time with our twelve-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter. As a family with mixed experiences of camping, we had a wonderful time sleeping under the star-filled sky and eating wholesome food. Our children really enjoyed being outdoors for 8–10 hours a day, giving them the freedom to be themselves in a safe retreat environment. As parents, we learned to let go, which also provided us with time and space to breathe, listen, and enjoy each other’s company. Plum Village was truly a place of love and refuge.

— William Lau, Suki Chan, Zi Chan-Lau and Ziqiao “Q” Chan-Lau; London, England

Application for Children | Teens’ Program

Dear friends,

Thank you for coming to Plum Village each Summer and growing our sangha family together.

We are aware that we do not have the physical capacity to accommodate all the families that wish to attend. We would like, as much as possible, to offer an inclusive registration experience.

The initial dates for applying for the Children and Teens Program in the Summer Opening in Plum Village France will be open from 20th December 2025 3pm CET to 7th January 2026 9am CET (an 18 day window). If you are coming with children aged 5 or under, you can also go through this application process.

From 7th January – 10th January 2026, applications will close temporarily and the random selection process will take place. During these days, families that are selected will be contacted and invited to finalize their registrations with a payment.

Applications that were not selected in the initial round will remain on the waiting list and will also be notified. Families can choose how long to wait during the application process.

From 18th January 2026, we will re-open the application process again for any available spaces in the programs. For the programs that are full, families can have the option to join the waiting list.

Application form will be posted here on 20th December 3pm CET

Registration for indivduals and couples

The registration date for adults coming without children is to be confirmed soon.

Volunteering for the Summer Opening

The Summer Opening is not possible without the support of our volunteers. In order to truly offer stability and peace to the retreat, we prioritize volunteers who can make a one month commitment (arrive on July 5 and depart on August 5).