'Asking Myself, Connecting the World' runs Thursday through Saturday
A millennium forest, mindfulness, music, fine dining and AI converge at Woljeongsa
At Woljeongsa temple on Odaesan mountain, the sound of wind chimes mingles with jazz — and guests can sit down to a meal that feels like dining among the clouds.
The setting is the 2026 Odaesan Cultural Festival, a three-day gathering where traditional culture, meditation, music, fine dining, visual art and AI all share the same stage.
Woljeongsa will host the festival from Thursday to Saturday at venues across the temple grounds, including the fir forest, the Forest of Yeongi and Dongnim Seonwon meditation hall, under the theme "Asking Myself, Connecting the World."
This year's festival goes beyond showcasing Buddhist heritage. Organizers have broadened the program so visitors can walk, listen, meditate and share food — turning the experience into an opportunity for personal reflection.
The signature participatory program is "Maeum Ground," conceived as a chance to step away from the rush of daily life and look inward amid Odaesan's natural surroundings.
Sessions held in the Forest of Yeongi, Dongnim Seonwon and along the fir-forest path include singing-bowl sound baths, seated meditation for beginners, forest bathing, somatic movement, journaling workshops, earphone walking meditation, tea meditation and the tea ceremony, morning yoga meditation, and aroma and scent blending. Through nature, sound, movement and breath, the program offers a space to rest a weary mind and reconnect with one's inner self.
On Friday — Hangul Day — Daebeopyunjeon hall will host "Hwaeom Seonbuljang: A Day of the Buddha, A Day of Ours," a program that draws connections between Buddhist wisdom and contemporary life.
Guided by the vision of "bridging a millennium of wisdom with the future," the event brings together music, food, AI and technology, and visual art under one roof. Participants explore what Buddhist practice and philosophy can mean in the context of modern daily life, technology and art — examining how sound resonates with the mind, how a single meal can embody a philosophy of practice, and how emerging technology is shaping a new future.
On Saturday, the Forest of Yeongi will host "Table in the Clouds," a dining experience led by Seonjae Sunim, a master of temple cuisine. Billed as "the most extraordinary meal in a millennium-old forest," the event brings food, people and stories together around a single table set within Odaesan's natural landscape.
The program is a culinary cultural experience centered on the value of slowness and the ease of living — sharing seasonal dishes not merely as a tasting but as a way of forging a connection between people and nature through food.
The performance series "Courtyard of Sound" adds to the festival's atmosphere. On Friday, a musical gala concert featuring Park Wan will be held alongside Andy Kim Band and Raum Musical, while on Saturday La Ventana World Music Concert will take the stage with sheng player Kim Hyo-young and jazz vocalist Nam Ye-ji.
A Buddhist culture experience zone in the courtyard in front of Hwaeomnu pavilion runs throughout the festival, offering lotus lantern and prayer-bead making, mandala coloring and a painting activity featuring the octagonal nine-story stone pagoda accompanied by a singing-bowl session, pagoda rubbing, and bell-ringing with a monk.
Inside Hwaeomnu, ink-wash artist Lee Yeo-un will present a special invitational exhibition titled "A Millennium of Architecture Blooming in Ink." Twenty-five works reinterpret the architecture and spaces of Woljeongsa — a temple with a thousand years of history — through the lines and negative space of ink-wash painting. The exhibition is organized around three themes: millennium Buddhist architecture, the city and hanok, and negative space and meditation.
On the opening day Thursday, events include a ceremonial procession of the Buddha's relics, a bodhisattva precepts ceremony, the opening theme performance "Asking Myself, Connecting the World," and a communal pagoda-circling ritual.
The opening theme performance weaves together traditional dance, traditional music including the sheng, and vocal improvisation to carry the festival's message through a three-part arc: "Asking Myself → Connecting the World → Bridging a Millennium."
On Friday, a Buddhist choral festival featuring choirs from multiple temples will follow, and standing programs — including a national calligraphy competition honoring the teachings of the Venerable Tanheo, a traditional monk's market and tea ceremony experiences — will be available throughout the festival grounds. Details and registration are available on the official website at odaesanfestival.
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