Date: 25 May – 6 June B.E. 2493 (1950)

Venue: Colombo, Sri Lanka

The First Conference was held at the Holy Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka on 25 May which is the Buddhist Vesak Day to make the event worldwide importance.  There were 129 delegates representing 29 countries excluding those from Sri Lanka, the host country gathering at the conference.

Date: 24 – 30 November B.E. 2501 (1958)
Venue: Bangkok Thailand
Decision worth mentioning was made at this conference was that in order to strengthen the President’s authority, who would be assisted by 11 Vice Presidents, Ex-Presidents would automatically become Honorary Presidents on relinquishing their positions. The conference also called for the promotion of new methods and the improvement of existing standards of teaching of Buddhism in all Buddhist countries at all educational levels, especially concerning children.

Date: 29 November – 4 December B.E. 2507 (1964)
Venue: Sarnath and Varanasi, India
Sarnath, Varanasi in India was chosen as the venue of the conference because it is where Śākyamuni delivered his first sermon which came to be known as the turning of the Wheel of the Law, the Dharmacakra. It was also as a tribute to the Centenary of the birth of the late Venerable Anāgārika Dharmapāla who was the pioneer of the Buddhist revival in India and the first Buddhist missionary to visit Europe and America that spread Buddhism beyond Asia.

Date: 6 – 12 November B.E. 2509 (1966)
Venue: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Theme: Buddhism Promotes Peace and Harmony Among Men
This was the first time that the WFB General Conference had a theme and this practice was followed by all of the WFB General Conferences from that time on. At this conference, a Committee on Youth was added to the General Conference which made the WFB germinate the establishment of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (W.F.B.Y.) as a permanent auxiliary institution to the W.F.B.