Sundance Institute said on Thursday that Sundance Film Festival will relocate from Park City to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027.
The location beat out the two other finalists – Salt Lake City, Utah, with a smaller Park City presence, and Cincinnati, Ohio – and marks the end of a year-long consultation and bidding process.
Boulder is a university town with a population of around 105,000 according to United States Census Bureau, compared to just over 8,200 in Park City. The Institute said the new location aligned with the festival’s ethos and cited “a community rooted in independent thought, artistic exploration, and social impact”.
From 2027, the festival will take place in downtown Boulder and use spaces around the pedestrian-only Pearl Street, where there is a mix of vintage theatres, performance arts spaces, a multiplex, a university, and other auditoriums.
Boulder is 26 miles from the state capital Denver and its international airport accommodating direct flights to and from London, Paris, Los Angeles, and New York. Screen understands the festival is working with hotels to ensure stable pricing without price surges.
Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute acting CEO, said: “Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town. It is a place where the festival can build and flourish. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we invite everyone to be part of our community and to be entertained and inspired. We can’t imagine a better fit than Boulder.”
In January, Colorado legislators approved a new $34m refundable tax credit over 10 years to entice Sundance. The credit would be claimed by a festival with a track record of at least 100,000 in-person tickets a year and more than 10,000 out-of-state and international attendees. The arrival of the festival will boost the local economy: Sundance Institute reported that the 2024 edition brought $132m to Utah, generated an estimated 1,730 jobs for residents, contributed $69.7m in Utah wages, and generated $13.8m in state and local tax revenue.
Park City tensions
In recent years the festival’s relationship with Park City had exposed tensions. Many believed Sundance had outgrown the small Utah ski resort. Some businesses liked having the festival on their doorstep, while others bemoaned the crush and the corporate activations on Main Street and surrounding streets.
Industry attendees and companies increasingly expressed dissatisfaction over rising costs, and the mass arrival of festival participants did not sit well with winter sports enthusiasts or businesses geared up to support the resort.
The last few years have been difficult for festivals in the wake of Covid and the ensuing rapid change in viewership habits. Like others, Sundance pivoted, and the result was arguably the gold standard of online viewing platforms – a service that continued in successive years to be of use to those who either could not attend or were unable to attend in full.
Industry dynamics have fed into the challenges. Production delays due to the pandemic and the Hollywood strikes caused disruption in the flow of films, depressing the market and increasing the sense of caution among US buyers already priced out of most negotiations by deep-pocketed streamers. This year’s Sundance in particular saw a dip in deal-making, and while festival director Eugene Hernandez will rightly argue Sundance is more than a sales event, it has long been the case that industry activity in Park City sets the tone for the start of the year.
During the search process, first announced in April 2024, the Institute considered location suitability based on ethos, event capability, transportation, hospitality, inclusion and accessibility, financial sustainability, and host partner support. Today marks the deadline for Utah Governor Spencer Cox to review 70 bills including one proposal to ban the Pride flag from government and school buildings – a develpment that it is safe to say would not chime with Sundance’s ethos.
Each candidate venue was asked if there was at least one performance hall with capacity of 1,300 people that could premiere films; at least six screening venues with capacity ranging from 150 to 1,300 in a relatively concentrated area; proximity to an international airport; and sufficient lodging within a 25-mile radius to accommodate a peak of 30,000 people.
Next year’s event will be the last in Park City after four decades and will run from January 22 to February 1, 2026.
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