Amid all the talk of films, fires and the state of the Oscar race, one question has dominated Sundance 2025: Where will the festival move?
Last April, the nonprofit behind Sundance, the pre-eminent festival for independent film held for the past 40 years in Park City, Utah, announced that it was exploring where else to hold the event in 2027 and beyond. The organizers then narrowed their choices to three spots: Salt Lake City, just 45 minutes away, along with a smaller presence in Park City; Boulder, Colo.; and Cincinnati. The final choice is expected to be announced in late March or early April.
That has left festival goers, industry insiders and locals imagining what the change would mean for the city and the festival itself.
The organizers have said, essentially, that the event has gotten too big for Park City. When Sundance arrives every January, it balloons the ski town of 8,200 full-time residents into a snowy circus, with over 20,000 people streaming in from around the globe. Hotel prices skyrocket, the streets become clogged with black S.U.V.s, and what should be a simple five-minute ride down Main Street can turn into a 30-minute crawl, especially when it snows, as it has at this year’s festival.
The organizers have said they are looking for a new home that can house the growing festival while maintaining its roots.
Sundance representatives declined to comment for this article. But nearly everyone in Park City for this year’s event, which runs through the weekend, seems to have an opinion on the change. Some question whether coastal elites who trek to Utah would travel to Cincinnati in January. Others ask whether Boulder has the infrastructure to support a growing festival. And still more wonder if Sundance should be contemplating Utah or Ohio at all, considering the states’ conservative political leanings don’t align with Sundance’s commitment to celebrating diverse voices in an inclusive environment.
For Park City’s full-time residents, many of whom have grown up with the film festival, the idea of it leaving seems unimaginable.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Ryan Williams, 37, an art dealer in town and the son of a former mayor. “Park City is not the most diverse place, not just in skin color but also in thought. And the thing that happens during Sundance is people are open, they are ready to connect and there’s this magic. We have people from all over the world here: different colors, different cultures. It’s this beautiful gift that we’re given each year.”
Sundance has a significant effect on the Utah economy. Out-of-state visitors spent $106.4 million with the total economic impact reaching $132 million, according to a report released by the festival after last year’s 10-day event. That impact included 1,730 jobs for Utah residents.
Many locals are still holding out hope that Sundance chooses the Salt Lake City option, because Park City would still hold some ancillary events. That could be why some local groups, such as Park City Chamber of Commerce, declined to comment on any possible move before a decision has been made.
Not everyone in Park City is upset about the festival leaving town. Blaire Isleib, 42, the co-owner of Flight, a women’s boutique on Main Street, said Sundance no longer brought in additional sales for her store, in part because her front door is often being blocked by big trucks that clog the main street while they load in the pop-up shops that operate on the street for the week. That extra traffic keeps local patrons and the ski tourists away. The Sundance folks? Not big retail shoppers.
“It’s definitely not our moneymaking time anymore,” she said.
It is a big moneymaker for Hudson Valeriano, the owner of Rio Transportation, a car service offering luxury rides to people headed to Park City. The loss of Sundance would mean an annual 30 percent decline in business, he said. During the festival his fleet of seven S.U.V.s is constantly in motion, with clients often booking his drivers all day long, to shuttle them from event to event. (When Sundance isn’t in season, the majority of his business is hauling people between the ski town and the Salt Lake City airport.)
“We’re going to have to change the style of the company,” he said, adding that he intends to focus it more on the ski tourists, which he believes will offset the 30 percent loss by about 10 percent.
For Meagan Nash, a restaurateur and caterer, the loss of Sundance in Park City will be a significant hit to her revenue. Ms. Nash, 43, opened her restaurant Handle with her partners in 2014, after spending a few years catering for various Sundance events. The first weekend of this year’s festival was packed with special events — she counted at least eight private meals, hosting various production companies and media brands.
And while it isn’t her biggest month of the year — that’s March, when the weather warms and families descend for spring break — the revenue generated by Sundance boosts her business during an otherwise slow period.
“Sundance, literally, has been here my whole entire life,” said Ms. Nash, who was born and raised in Utah. “It would be a massive bummer if it went to a different city. I don’t know if it would ever be the same.”
