Utahns campaign for Sundance Film Festival to stay in Park City
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Park City's Egyptian Theatre on Thursday. Photo: by Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Locals are advocating for the iconic Sundance Film Festival to stay in Utah.
Why it matters: Sundance organizers are weeks away from announcing whether the film festival will move to Cincinnati or Boulder, Colorado, in 2027 — or remain in Utah, its birthplace and home for the past four decades.
- Park City's contract with Sundance is set to expire in 2026, prompting organizers to open a process in April to explore a new location.
State of play: A small coalition of locals and out-of-state festivalgoers launched a grassroots campaign last week to keep the annual event local.
- The group has printed and passed out thousands of stickers on Park City's Main Street and to other attendees that say "Keep Sundance in Utah" and "NOhio for Sundance."
- "People are coming up to us too and asking to get stickers," Marcia Victor, a Heber City resident who has attended Sundance for years, told Axios.
What they're saying: Utah-based filmmakers like Cole Webley, whose movie "Omaha" premiered last week, wants the festival to stay put, calling its potential move "devastating."
- "It's such a piece of the identity of this state," Webley, who has been going to the festival for 20 years, told Axios.
- Attendees and industry executives argue the festival is synonymous with the posh resort town. It's also closer to Hollywood than the other proposed cities.
Threat level: Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters this month that it would be a "huge mistake" if Sundance moved. "I think it would be really a death nail" for Sundance, he said.
- He pointed to Outdoor Retailer's move to Colorado over state leaders' support to reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
- "They chased the money and the politics and they went somewhere else, and it didn't work out for them, and they came back and so I hope that we don't have a repeat of that with Sundance," he said.
- Cox, who has previously bemoaned film tax incentives in Utah, said he feels "very good" about Salt Lake City and Park City's joint bid, but it may not be as "lucrative" as other competing cities.
By the numbers: Out-of-state visitors spent $106.4 million during last year's festival that drew over 72,000 in-person attendees, per an economic impact report.
Zoom in: Sundance and Park City have come up together and are facing growing pains.
- For years, attendees have complained about bumper-to-bumper traffic, climbing lodging costs and large corporations and brands taking over the festival's spirit.
- One Park City business owner told Variety that the festival requires a "revival" if organizers choose to stick around.
What's next: An announcement about Sundance's future is expected to come this winter or early spring.