Sundance Film Festival leaving Park City, Utah, moving to Boulder in 2027

After more than four decades of calling Utah and Park City home, the Sundance Film Festival is leaving in 2027.

The Sundance Film Institute announced on Thursday that festival organizers have decided to move to Boulder. The Colorado Senate gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill that would offer the film festival up to $34 million in tax credits over 10 years. The House already approved the bill, and the Senate will need to vote on it again before it goes to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk for a signature.

Utah was one of three finalists bidding to host Sundance after its contract expires following the 2026 festival. Earlier Thursday, news broke that organizers did not choose Cincinnati, leaving just Utah and Colorado in the running. Sundance’s announcement later Thursday afternoon sealed the deal for Boulder.

“This decision was informed by a detailed evaluation of the key components essential to creating our Festival. During the process, it became clear that Boulder is the ideal location in which to build our Festival’s future, marking a key strategic step in its natural evolution,” said Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board Chair.

The decision also comes after some final-hour drama added a wrinkle to Utah’s bid. The 2025 Utah Legislature approved a bill aimed at banning pride or LGBTQ+ flags in schools and all government buildings, which its supporters said is meant to promote “political neutrality” in government spaces.

Earlier this month, the Hollywood news site Deadline reported that bill, HB77, could pose “an eleventh-hour obstacle to the Beehive State’s hopes of keeping” Sundance. The outlet quoted an unnamed “Sundance insider” expressing frustrations with the bill and calling it a “terrible law, a terrible look for the state.”

“No matter what they say, we all know who it’s aimed at — the LGBTQ+ community, and that’s unacceptable,” the outlet quoted that insider saying.

Polis, a longtime Boulder resident, welcomed the announcement and highlighted the economic boost the festival is expected to bring to the state.

“I’m beyond excited to welcome the Sundance Film Festival to Colorado starting in 2027,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “Here in Colorado we also celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator, and important contributor to our thriving culture. Now, with the addition of the iconic Sundance Film Festival, we can expect even more jobs, a huge benefit for our small businesses including stores and restaurants, and to help the festival achieve even greater success.”

Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett told Colorado Newsline he is “delighted” the festival will come to his city, as it will be an “incredible boost to our cultural life here in Boulder.” He said he’s grateful for the “huge amount of work” those at Visit Boulder, the Downtown Boulder Partnership, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce and the state put into attracting the festival. 

“I think it’s providing an amazing opportunity for folks to see cutting edge, independent films in years to come and meet some amazing people,” Brockett said. “It’s definitely going to raise our profile as a city in a way that I think it’s really good for the community.” 

John Tayer, president and CEO of the Boulder Chamber, also noted the festival’s economic promise, and he acknowledged the city’s new role as a steward for a cherished arts institution.

“The Boulder Chamber and the business community we represent understand what an immense responsibility we will be assuming with the selection of Boulder as the new host city for the Sundance Film Festival,” Tayer said in a statement. “The Sundance Film Festival is an international cultural asset with global expectations for a successful transition that builds toward an exciting future vision of growth and impact.”

‘Bye Felicia’

The announcement came after Utah’s bid committee — made up of officials from Park City, Visit Park City, Summit County, Salt Lake County, Visit Salt Lake, the state of Utah, Salt Lake City and Utah’s philanthropic community — spent nearly an entire year forming a bid package that included tens of millions in in-kind and cash public funding, plus even more in private commitments.

Park City and Salt Lake City are both Democratic strongholds in an otherwise deeply conservative state.

In total, Utah’s bid included more than $54.1 million in public cash commitments over 10 years. That included an additional $24.9 million in new cash commitments over the life of a 10-year contract, on top of about $29.2 million that had already been committed to Sundance over 10 years, according to bid committee officials. That would have equaled nearly $2.8 million in new annual public funding committed to the film festival, on top of about $2.7 million that was already committed, bringing the total annual public cash that was on the table to more than $5.5 million a year for 10 years.

The 2025 Utah Legislature appropriated $3.5 million in their budget this year for the film festival, upping the state’s annual commitment by about $1.62 million a year.

But it wasn’t enough to entice Sundance to stay.

“Bye Felicia,” the Senate sponsor of the flag ban bill, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, posted on X in response to the Deadline article. “Sundance promotes porn. Sundance promotes alternative lifestyles. Sundance promotes anti-lds themes. Sundance does not fit in Utah anymore.”

It’s not clear how much the pride flag ban factored into festival organizers’ decision to leave Utah.

Sundance’s departure from Utah is a blow not just to local filmmakers, but also the state’s economy. Last year, the Sundance Film Festival generated about $132 million in gross domestic product for Utah, 1,730 local jobs, $69.7 million in Utah wages, and $13.8 million in state and local tax revenue, according to its 2024 economic impact report.

Leading up to their decision, festival organizers had said Sundance had outgrown the Utah ski town of Park City. Robert Redford, in January, told the Associated Press he’d started to “hear some negative comments about how crowded it is and how difficult it is to get from venue to venue when there’s traffic and people in the streets and so forth.”

On Thursday, Redford — an actor and director who founded the Sundance Film Festival and attended the University of Colorado Boulder — said his mission to discover and develop independent filmmakers will continue on, while thanking Park City and Utah leaders and expressing excitement for Sundance’s future in Boulder.

“What we’ve created is remarkably special and defining,” Redford said. “As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival. This move will ensure that the Festival continues its work of risk taking, supporting innovative storytellers, fostering independence, and entertaining and enlightening audiences. I am grateful to the Boulder community for its support, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the Festival there.”

Sundance organizers said they were drawn to Boulder for its “small-town charm with an engaged community, distinctive natural beauty, and a vibrant arts scene, making it the ideal location for the Festival to grow.”

“Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town,” said Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute Acting CEO. “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.”

Editor’s note: Colorado Newsline’s Lindsey Toomer contributed to this report. This story first appeared on Utah News Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.