The Sundance Film Festival will move to Boulder in 2027, the Sundance Institute announced Thursday.

The internationally-recognized film festival has been in Park City, Utah, for more than 40 years, but organizers have been looking for alternative options to host the festival for another decade and had narrowed it down to staying in Utah or moving to Boulder or Cincinnati.

“During the process, it became clear that Boulder is the ideal location in which to build our Festival’s future, marking a key strategic step in its natural evolution,” said Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board Chair, in a press release.

The institute said it selected Boulder because of its art community, open-minded culture accepting of filmmakers and access to the Rocky Mountains — as well as its ability to help the festival grow.

The film festival is set be centered around downtown Boulder, utilizing its theaters, venues and Pearl Street Mall, according to the institute, as well as the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

Sundance added that it plans to work with the city to “enhance infrastructure and accommodation options” to make the festival more affordable and sustainable.

While Colorado is celebrating, Utah’s governor said Sundance will regret the decision. 

“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,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said.

For Sundance leaders, the festival can exist “no matter where it is,” said Eugene Hernandez, the festival’s director and head of public programming.

“We started as a mechanism for the discovery of voices, talent, stories. That is what the festival is,” Hernandez said. “And as we evolve, that will not change.”

The Sundance Film Festival will still be hosted in Park City in 2026, before moving to Colorado in 2027.

Sundance secures package of incentives, as states hopes for $2 billion in economic impact

Sundance is expected to be a huge boon to Colorado’s economy — typically held in January and heavily tied with the ski industry — as the festival contributed more than $130 million in economic impact and created more than 1,700 jobs in 2024, according to the organization. 

“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,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.

Later at a press conference outside Boulder Theater, Polis said Colorado is expected to generate $2 billion over the 10 years as host, supporting both the tourism and creative industries.

“We know it’s about more than money,” he added. “A powerful film that inspires somebody is priceless.”

State officials have said winning Sundance would be a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for Colorado.

The announcement puts Colorado squarely on the international film map, said Colorado Film Commissioner Donald Zuckerman.

Two of the five biggest film festivals are in North America: Toronto and Sundance. Europe has Venice, Berlin and Cannes. Still, it’s very expensive for young filmmakers to afford going going to the festival, explained Zuckerman.

“We’re hoping to alleviate that issue and we make everybody happy for probably the next 40 years,” he said.

To win the festival, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a $1.5 million incentive to attract the festival in June.

When Colorado initially placed Boulder’s bid, state officials said they hoped their proposal would help keep the festival in the Mountain West region for the next 10 years as well as attract thousands of out-of-state tourists to visit the city during winter.

State agencies also pitched in to boost the EDC’s $1.5 million package: The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade offered to contribute $325,000; Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media put in $250,000 over five years; the Colorado Tourism Office with $50,000; and. the Colorado Creative Industries with $25,000.

The Colorado lawmakers are also pushing a bill to offer the Sundance Institute up to $34 million in refundable state income tax credits.

The state has gotten criticism for the amount of incentives the festival would get if it chose Boulder. And Colorado is facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall. Those who backed the tax credit and incentives argue that the investment will generate more money for not just Boulder, but the region, as well.

An independent analysis showed that the 2024 Sundance festival generated $132 million in annual economic activity. That’s more than worth the investment, Zuckerman said.

“The state will be collecting a lot more money in sales taxes than that, and all the hotels will be full,” he said. “Remember, the billion-dollar shortfall is in the general fund. As long as there’s a TABOR refund, this doesn’t come out of the general fund.”

There’s also hope Sundance’s move to Colorado will spur more moviemakers to film in Colorado and push lawmakers to create more competitive incentive packages.

“Sundance Film Festival is going to be an anchor tenant of an increasingly successful film ecosystem in our state,” Polis said on Thursday when asked about the impact of the festival would have on attracting more films.

In May, Polis signed legislation sponsored by state Rep. Leslie Herod guaranteeing $5 million in annual incentives to encourage the making of more films in Colorado through at least 2029.

To Colorado film advocates that’s a start, but Zuckerman said also pointed to what neighboring states spend on annual film incentives: Arizona — $125 million; New Mexico — $110 million; Utah — $12 million.

The recent apocalyptic thriller “Elevation,” starring “Captain America” actor Anthony Mackie, was primarily shot in Boulder and Golden, and it provided work for about 75 local background actors. 

“We never could have done it here without the incentives,” Director George Nolfi told The Denver Gazette.

Local film festival leaders welcome the news

Leaders from some of Colorado’s established film festivals welcomed the news as further enhancing Colorado’s reputation as a film state.

Kevin Smith, CEO of Denver Film and its 46-year Denver Film Festival, said Sundance will elevate all the state’s other film festivals.

“I really hope that it extends to continue to build the film industry here,” Smith said. “It’s going to bring a lot of continued momentum. I’m really just excited to have the selection made, and now we can get to work.”

But Smith said the addition of another premiere festival to the Colorado film calendar will bring some challenges.

“Anytime you have a significant change in the marketplace, there could be ripple effects,” he said. “Whether that’s funding opportunities or the spotlight or attendance, those are all certainly considerations. But I really look at it more as being complementary to us because, at the end of the day, Sundance is the first big festival of the year.”

Sundance has the opportunity to set to tone for what films are leading the conversation due to it being in January, Smith said. The Denver Film Festival in November can be a “culmination of that.”

“At the end of each year, we’re able to take all the best things from all the festivals across the world and bring them here to Denver,” Smith said. “In that way I think we’re highly complementary festivals.”

Meanwhile, the homegrown Boulder International Film Festival just completed a record-breaking 21st iteration two weeks ago.

“We take great pride in the fact that Boulder is already home to an outstanding film festival,” said Kathy Beeck, co-founder and director of BIFF, which helped pave the way for Sundance to come to the city. “We look forward to working with the Sundance team to help bring the festival to Boulder.”

Randi Kleiner, CEO of SeriesFest, an annual film festival for television programming that returns to Denver April 29-May 4, said Sundance’s move will bring “automatic impact” throughout the state.

“Obviously, Sundance is a world renowned brand, and I think bringing that level of awareness to Colorado is really an exciting opportunity for SeriesFest and all of the other arts nonprofits here,” she said. “I absolutely see the potential for an incredible partnership with Sundance and have already started to plant the seeds of those kinds of conversations.”