After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival announced Thursday that its new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains but moving it out of Park City, the Utah ski town that had for decades provided the premier independent film gathering its picturesque snowy backdrop.
Organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had outgrown Park City, and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable housing to continue hosting what has become one of North America’s most sprawling movie events. Sundance had narrowed down the options to Salt Lake City (with a smaller presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder.
Boulder emerged as their choice due to its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and an engaged community that, organizer said, provides Sundance the ideal setting for its future.
“Boulder is a tech town, it’s a college town, it’s an arts town, and it’s a mountain town,” Amanda Kelso, acting chief executive of the Sundance Institute, said in an interview Thursday from Boulder. “At 100,000 people, a larger town than Park City, it gives us the space to expand.”
Kelso, Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough and Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and head of programming, spoke shortly before announcing the festival’s move in Boulder. Local officials, who helped lure Sundance with $34 million in tax credits over 10 years, applauded the decision.
“Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator and important contributor to our thriving culture,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (Dem.) said in a statement.
Reacting to the decision, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (Rep.) said Thursday that Sundance will come to regret leaving Utah.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, we wanted Sundance to stay,” Cox said in a statement. “We made that clear to their leadership and put together a highly competitive package. Ultimately, this decision is theirs to make, but I believe it’s a mistake and that, one day, they’ll realize they left behind not just a place, but their heritage.”
A shift from Park City to Boulder means Sundance stays at altitude but gives up being located in an expensive ski town. The mile-high Colorado city set in the foothills of the Rockies also maintains a sense of surrounding nature — something organizers stressed as a factor in their decision. Boulder’s four-block pedestrian mall on Pearl Street, with nearby theaters, could also provide a similar sense of central hub like Park City’s Main Street.
The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, who sought a location far from Hollywood to foster independent voices in film. In 1984, the institute took over the Sundance Film Festival, but the nonprofit’s mission of helping young filmmakers grow through labs and workshops — Redford’s real passion — continued year-round away from the festival.
The 88-year-old Redford, who attended the University of Colorado in Boulder in his youth, gave the move his blessing.
“Words cannot express the sincere gratitude I have for Park City, the state of Utah, and all those in the Utah community that have helped to build the organization,” Redford said in a statement. “What we’ve created is remarkably special and defining. As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival.”
The festival made “ethos and equity values” one of its criteria, prompting many to wonder how much local politics would influence the choice by Sundance, which emphasizes inclusivity. Gov. Cox is currently weighing a bill that would ban the flying of certain flags at schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag.
Organizers said Boulder’s “welcoming environment aligns with the ethos the Sundance Film Festival developed in Park City.”
“This process started 18 months ago and we’ve been in Utah for 40 years. So politics really didn’t guide the process,” Burnough said Thursday. “It was really and truly about evolution. That’s where it landed. We didn’t constantly spend time examining what bill was going forward or may or may not be signed.”
With its current contract expiration date looming, the hunt for a new host city began in earnest in April 2024. The initial group of six contenders also included Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Before packing up, Sundance will have one last edition in Park City in January 2026.
“The Sundance Film Festival will be the Sundance Film Festival wherever we go. What’s consistent is our mission,” said Hernandez. “This is a festival of global discovery. What’s exciting about Boulder is this is a place we can build.”
Over the years, Sundance in Park City swelled into a premier marketplace for American film, drawing studio executives and parka-wearing celebrities into the Wasatch mountains every January. It helped launch countless filmmakers over the years, from Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies and Videotape”) to Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”). Sundance scored its first best picture winner with “CODA” in 2022.
Sundance meant big business for Utah and Park City. In 2024, the festival had some 72,840 in-person attendees, 24,200 of whom were coming from out of state. According to the festival’s economic impact report, out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the festival. Its total economic impact was estimated to be $132 million, with 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $69.7 million in Utah wages.
But the festival had also sparred with local ski resorts — Park City’s other major money maker — as festivalgoers filled the hotels and left the slopes virtually empty for two weeks during peak ski season. The festival was a boon to some local businesses, but a hindrance to others. For visitors flying into the 10-day festival, ballooning rental costs increasingly factored into attending.
All three top contenders budgeted millions to lure the lucrative festival to their city. Cincinnati set aside $2.5 million for Sundance and another $2.5 million to come if it was chosen. Salt Lake City offered Sundance $3.5 million to stay in Utah.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.