The Sundance Film Festival is moving to Boulder, Colorado, a momentous change for the film festival after having spent the last 40+ years in Park City, Utah. This announcement caps an 18-month process for the festival to select its new home, beginning with the Sundance Institute’s announcement of the upcoming change back in July 2023. The three finalists of Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, and Boulder were announced in September last year.
The Sundance Institute has determined that Park City was having an increasingly difficult time handling the logistics of the festival, as it has grown over the years. After a brief hiatus during the COVID pandemic, the festival re-started its in-person screenings in Park City in 2022, with many festivalgoers complaining about limited lodging, difficulty finding parking, and screenings that were both expensive and cumbersome.
There were many reasons to choose Boulder, including superior logistics and finances and more favorable politics. The Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau gave a thorough proposal that addressed all of the issues that had plagued the festival in Park City, including plans to make it accessible both logistically and financially. The city offered a $34 million tax credit in exchange for a 10-year commitment.
Sundance had also come up against political headwinds in Utah. While the state’s Republican governor Spencer Cox “worked the phones” to keep the festival in Salt Lake City, some of its conservative lawmakers had openly criticized its progressive leanings, with one saying that Sundance “doesn’t fit Utah anymore.”
In contrast, Colorado’s Democratic governor Jared Polis welcomed the festival to his state by saying it represented an “important contributor to our thriving culture.” With many rooting for Sundance to stay close to the West Coast, the Sundance Institute appears to have achieved many of its goals with its relocation. The festival will remain in Park City for one more year before its move to Boulder in 2027.
