Summer Opening 2023

If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important.

Thich Nhat Hanh

From July 9th – 29th 2023, Plum Village will be a kingdom of smiles for families with children and teens.

The teachings and practices will be for all ages with tailored programs for children and teenagers.

To create space for more families, all retreatants (including children, teens, and grown-ups coming without little ones) can only 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. Please note that the Arrival and Departure Days are not on Fridays for this retreat and that a week-long retreat consists of 6 nights.

More information about joining us for a retreat

• Sample schedule
• Accommodation and pricing
• Other practicalities such as transportation, what to wear, what to bring, and meals

Children’s Program (aged 6-12 years old)

• French children’s program – Upper Hamlet
• Italian children’s program (Week 1 & 2 only) – Upper Hamlet
• Spanish children’s program – Upper Hamlet
• English children’s program – Lower Hamlet
• German children’s program (Week 3 only) – New Hamlet
• Dutch children’s program (Week 2 only) – New Hamlet

Teens’ Program (aged 13-17 years old)

• Teen boys’ program – Upper Hamlet
• Teen girls’ program – New Hamlet

Volunteering for the Retreat

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 2 and depart on August 1). Find out more and apply to be a volunteer.

Registration

Choosing a registration category

You will have the option to register:

• as an individual
  (coming without children)
• as a couple
  (coming without children)
• as a family
  (only parent(s), guardians, and children from 0-17 – only camping)
• on behalf of someone else
  (someone coming with your family but who wants to book a different accommodation – not including guardians)

To keep the process as simple and smooth as possible, the family registration is reserved for children and teenagers ages 0-17 and their parent(s) or guardian(s).

For all other reservations, please register separately.

If you have multiple reservations to make, please be sure to register your family first.

FOR UPPER HAMLET ONLY: Dear friends, currently there are no available places for individuals and couples coming without children. We will update this page if places become available later this month. 

Family Registration

This year, camping will be the main form of accommodation for families in all three hamlets. We ask that families register all parents and children who will be staying in Plum Village, including babies and children 5 years and younger.

For each hamlet where a child or teenager is staying, at least one parent must be present as well; or, in the case, there is no parent present, one guardian.

Each family will be placed in a “List” (holding your place in line) as soon as your basic information is received. At that time, you will be informed if there are still “Waiting List” spots. If the “Waiting List” is full, you will be placed on the “Overflow List”. 

Please note that being placed in one of these lists does not guarantee a place in the retreat, so please wait to make your travel arrangements until we confirm your place. In the next few weeks, we will review and process your reservation or request any further information if needed.

Please note that for those camping, we are only able to accommodate a certain number of camper vans/motorhomes, which we can only guarantee for those who notify us beforehand in the notes section at the end of the registration process.

Dear friends, we thank you for your understanding. We hope to see you soon and enjoy this wonderful opportunity to practice together.

If you have multiple reservations to make, please be sure to register your family first.

FOR UPPER HAMLET ONLY: Dear friends, currently there are no available places for individuals and couples coming without children. We will update this page if places become available later this month.