Pollstar (03/28/25)

After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival has decided that Boulder, Colorado, will be its new home, moving the annual event out of Park City, Utah, after four decades there. Organizers say the festival had outgrown Park City as it lacked the necessary cinemas and affordable housing to continue hosting what has become an increasingly sprawling movie event. Boulder emerged as the top replacement because of its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and engaged community. The city also offered up $34 million in tax credits over the next 10 years to lure Sundance. The shift in venues was endorsed by 88-year-old Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, a University of Colorado in Boulder alum. Politics likely played a role in the move, too. The festival made inclusivity and "equity values” among its search criteria. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) recently announced he was permitting a first-in-the-country policy banning certain flag displays at schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag, to become law without his signature. That bill's Republican sponsor, state Sen. Trevor Lee, has said in the past that Sundance "promoted filth" and "would not be missed."

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