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Sundance Institute Announces Boulder, Colorado, as the New Home for the Sundance Film Festival Beginning in 2027
Photo by Joelle Tamayo The Sundance Institute announced today that, beginning in 2027, Boulder, Colorado will be the new home for its Sundance Festival. Commented Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute acting CEO in a press release, “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.”
From the press release:
Together with the Boulder host committee, the Institute envisions the heart of the Festival centered in downtown Boulder utilizing a wide array of theaters and venues, and incorporating spaces around the Pearl Street Mall, a pedestrian-only street. Nearby spaces will offer dedicated locations for our community to gather, including select spots on the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder campus. The majestic Rocky Mountains will frame the horizon for festival goers. The Festival will work with the host committee to enhance infrastructure and accommodation options, ensuring that attendees can gather and celebrate independent storytelling in an affordable and sustainable way — key to allowing independent films to shine and maintaining access for our community.”
Commented Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough, “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.”
Colorado’s governor Jared Polis said, “Colorado is thrilled to welcome the Sundance Film Festival to its new home in Boulder starting in 2027. 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. 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.”
The move out of Park City, Utah, which has been the festival’s home since 1981, when it was called the US Film Festival, became public in 2023. The festival’s contract with Park City expires in 2026, and while the landscape and culture of the resort ski town has been a defining element of the festival’s brand for the last four decades, Sundance also outgrew Park City years ago. Housing costs have long been prohibitive for filmmakers, and screening facilities have varied widely in quality. Over recent years, Sundance lost Park City screening venues such as the Yarrow, the Prospector, and the Racquet Club, with newer venues added at the Redstone Shopping Center, which is inconveniently outside of the festival’s main drag.
The selection of Boulder followed a year-long process, during which over 100 locations responded to a request for information from the festival, 67 met eligibility requirements and were considered for the RFP (request for proposal) stage, and 13 locations were then invited to submit proposals. The selection pool was then whittled down to six locations that received site visits from Institute representatives, leading to the three finalists: Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Boulder, CO. Speculation and debate around the move dominated conversation at this past January’s Sundance Film Festival, with some arguing for the kind of total reboot a move to a non-resort, midwestern city like Cincinnati would necessitate, while others favored Boulder for the continuity its snowy environs would provide. Indeed, as today’s press release highlights, “The majestic Rocky Mountains will frame the horizon for festival goers.”
Filmmaker reached out to local producer and director Mitch Dickman, whose Listen Productions is based in nearby Denver, for his reaction. Dickman, whose Sundance credits include Casting JonBenet and Being Evel, replied, “Boulder, as well as Denver, have a strong history of supporting arts and culture along the Front Range. I think audiences will relish the chance to see the films that premiere at this prestigious festival. I also feel that there is a hungry filmmaker ecosystem, including many Sundance alumni, as well as educational opportunities abound for Sundance to strengthen its relationship with the Colorado community.”
“The process included a comprehensive evaluation of finalists’ infrastructure, ethos and equity values, event capabilities, and how each finalist could sustainably serve and support the Festival’s ever-growing community of independent artists and audiences,” reads the press release. In early March Sundance polled its artist alumni, asking them to rate the three finalist cities on categories such as their perceived safety and political climate, accommodations costs and transportation.
“The Sundance Film Festival’s move to Boulder, Colorado in 2027 preserves and builds on its four-decade journey,” said Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Film Festival Director and Head of Public Programming in the press release. “Together we continue to create a Festival that acts as a vibrant space for independent films and filmmakers to shine. A place where each January, a community of artists, industry, and audiences can gather to discover what’s new in global storytelling. This city is ready to embrace emerging and established global storytellers, our staff and volunteers, and, of course, global audiences. Whether you are a Sundance Film Festival regular, or someone who has dreamed of experiencing the Festival in person, we invite you to join us in January 2026 in Utah and then come along to nearby Colorado in 2027.”
