Goodbye Utah … The Sundance Festival moves after 40 years and will settle in 2027 in Colorado

A page turns for the Sundance Festival. The American high mass of independent cinema, co-founded by Robert Redford and more important seventh art festival being held in the United States, will say goodbye in 2026 to its historic stronghold of Park City in Utah and will settle from 2027 and for ten years in Colorado, in Boulder. This city in the American West, close to Denver, has 100,000 inhabitants.

“This decision will allow the festival to continue taking risks, supporting innovative creators, encouraging independence and entertainment and clarifying the public”said Robert Redford in a press release, stressing that “Change is inevitable”. “I can’t wait to see what the future reserves for the festival in this city”he added, saying to himself “grateful” towards the new host. “Boulder is a city of art, a technological city, a mountain city and a university city. It is a place where the festival can develop and prosper ”said Amanda Kelso, acting director of the Sundance Institute.

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Over the past four decades, Sundance has been held every winter in Park City, a posh ski resort of Utah, nestled at 2150 meters at altitude in the rocky mountains. But faced with the influx of more than 70,000 festival -goers – 100,000 before the pandemic -, a third of which comes from other American and abroad states, the infrastructures of the ancient mining city of 8,000 inhabitants struggled to follow. All the more in full ski season. Logging in Park City has become overpriced-it is impossible to find a hotel room in the city center at less than $ 500 per night-. The studios had decreased the wing and sent smaller teams. Like the editors of specialized magazines. Sundance has also become a nuisance for the inhabitants, who complain about the excitement and traffic jams caused by the influx of big names in Hollywood.

Stay in the mountain philosophy of the festival

A move had been mentioned for years. Boulder’s choice occurs after a year of investigation. 67 cities had applied to host the festival. The organizers had finally retained three finalists: Boulder, in Colorado, Salt Lake City, in Utah 50 km from Park City and which already welcomed certain projections and events, and Cincinnati, in Ohio.

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Among the criteria for selecting Sundance managers: the presence of projection places in sufficient numbers, a room of which could accommodate more than 1,300 people for the first gala sessions. The public transport network, the density of the hotel offer, the proximity of airports, the frequency of links with Los Angeles were also crucial.

A university city located about fifty kilometers from Denver International Airport, Boulder and its campuses has a lot of rooms and housing. Spending organizers are in talks to maintain acceptable prices. Another advantage (and not so anecdotal), boulder, located in the rocks, is also a mountain city with renowned ski slopes. Some regulars of Sundance did not see themselves giving up their favorite pastime.

Sundance served as an essential springboard for many leading filmmakers at the start of their career. About 4,000 feature films have been presented in Park City since the festival was created. Reservoir DogsQuentin Tarantino’s first film, Whiplash of Damien Chazelle, Boyhood by Richard Linklater, or Sex, lies and videoSteven Soderbergh’s first feature film, were all presented in preview in Sundance. The event gives pride of place to independent cinema, but also ended up attracting many Hollywood studios and stars. Its documentary program is also very rich, with productions from around the world, including serious pretenders to the Oscars. The festival will hold its latest edition in Park City in 2026, from January 22 to February 1.