The Sundance Film Festival announces relocation as Utah leaders rage over decision: 'It's a mistake'

The Sundance Film Festival will soon have a change of scenery as organizers have confirmed the event will be relocating to Boulder, C.O. in 2027.

While the Sundance Film Festival has been famously held in Park City, U.T. for the past 41 years The Sundance Institute has announced that the annual event will now have a new home. After a year-long search, the institute confirmed that the film festival will now be held at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in northern Colorado.

The actual festival will be held at theaters and venues surrounding the Pearl Street Mall, in addition to numerous spots on the campus of the University of Colorado Boulder. Explaining their decision-making process in a press release, The Sundance Institute wrote: "Boulder offers 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."

Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute Acting CEO, further shared: "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.”

The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United States showcasing new work from American and international independent filmmakers. During the 2024 festival, 82 feature films and 52 short films were featured and attracted a combined in-person and online viewership of over 361,212 people.

Almost every year films featured in the prestigious festival go on to be nominated in the Academy Awards, and this year was no different. During the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the extraordinary film 'Sugarcane,' directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, brought home the U.S. Documentary for Directing Award and was later nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Oscars.

Speaking on the great honor of Boulder being selected as the next location for the festival, Governor Jared Polis stated: "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."

He continued: "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. Thank you to the Sundance Institute and all of the partners like the City of Boulder, Visit Boulder, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, and I also want to thank the bipartisan legislators and leadership who have worked tirelessly to make this possible.”

However, the leaders of Utah are rattled by the move, insisting it wasn't her right way to go. Gov. Spencer Cox wrote on social media, 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."

Park City Mayor Nann Worel stressed the city did their best to keep event organizers happy, saying, "For over 40 years, we weren’t just the host of the Sundance Film Festival — Park City was part of the beating heart of the independent spirit that made it such a success. While I am deeply disappointed, I’m grateful for the legacy we built together."

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