Boulder readies to roll out the red carpet for Sundance
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The Sundance Film Festival won't make its official Boulder debut until early 2027, but 2026 will be all about laying the groundwork for one of the city's biggest-ever arrivals.
Why it matters: Landing Sundance is a major cultural win for Boulder, but realizing its full economic and reputational upside will require careful coordination across the city.
State of play: Sundance will hold its final festival in Park City, Utah, later this month, ending a four-decade chapter in Utah.
- Officials with the Downtown Boulder Partnerships (DBP) — which brings together leaders from both the public and private sectors — will attend the Utah festival to observe what Boulder needs to replicate, improve or reimagine.
- DBP vice president of marketing and communications Terri Takata-Smith said the successful bid hinged on citywide collaboration, including "all the businesses who jumped into action when we needed to put our best foot forward."
The intrigue: One of the biggest questions as planning gets underway is where Boulder will put tens of thousands of out-of-town visitors.
- City officials are prioritizing keeping festivalgoers as close to Boulder as possible to maximize local spending at restaurants, shops and venues.
- Two hotels opened in summer 2025 on University Hill, but Boulder's total hotel capacity still sits at about 3,000.
- City Council also passed a "festival housing" ordinance to make it easier for homeowners to rent out properties during major events.
- Longer-term projects like the Pearl Arts District — which won't be ready for Sundance's first year — are expected to incorporate hotel and venue space to capitalize on future festivals.
Meanwhile, the city and the University of Colorado Boulder are coordinating closely as planning ramps up.
- CU chancellor Justin Schwartz told us the school is arranging venue space and studying the festival's potential impacts on both the campus and broader community.
- The Boulder International Film Festival has already shifted its dates to avoid conflicts with Sundance in 2027.
- Even the Boulder Theater got a fresh coat of paint.
Between the lines: The challenge now, DBP interim CEO Tami Door said, is making sure Sundance's arrival delivers benefits that extend well beyond a single week.
- "How do you leverage Sundance for other ... opportunities?" Door said.
- "You see this in many cities — when you have transformative events and experiences, when they're really leveraged well, what they yield after the fact is really powerful, so we're already thinking about that with all of our partners," she told us.
- Schwartz added his priority is "getting ready to maximize opportunities for students and opportunities for faculty" who will be in the unique position of having the country's largest independent film festival in their backyard.