Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
The Sundance Film Festival announces its new home: Boulder, Colorado
The marquee of the Egyptian Theatre at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 28, 2020.
(
Arthur Mola
/
Invision / Associated Press
)
The Sundance Film Festival will have a new home starting in 2027: Boulder, Colorado. The Sundance Institute made the announcement Thursday after a year-long process.
"Boulder offers small-town charm with an engaged community, distinctive natural beauty and a vibrant arts scene, making it the ideal location for the Festival to grow," the institute wrote in a news release.
The announcement says the festival will center in downtown Boulder, at theater and venues around the pedestrian-only Pearl Street Mall, as well as spots on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder.
"Our walkable downtown, iconic venues and beautiful landscape at the base of the Rocky Mountains sets the stage for the Sundance Film Festival to flourish in its next chapter," said Charlene Hoffman, the chief executive of Visit Boulder.
Support for LAist comes from
Since 1985, cinephiles have trudged through the snow in the ski resort town Park City, Utah, to be the first to watch new, independent movies. It became an annual ritual after actor and filmmaker Robert Redford founded the nonprofit Sundance Institute to champion independent film.
"I thought, what if we start a film festival where at least the filmmakers could come and see each other's work and form a community?" he explained to NPR in 2017. "I thought, this is probably not going to work, but slowly it caught on, and then it caught fire. Now it's almost out of control, but the mission was accomplished: to create the space for other voices in film to get their stories told and be seen."
The community has grown since that first year, when Sundance screened around 25 feature films and a handful of documentaries to about a hundred people. In the past few years, tens of thousands of movie lovers have poured into Park City from around the world. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online offerings have gotten hundreds of thousands of views from fans watching at home.
Last year, Sundance organizers said the festival's 10-year lease with Park City would end in 2027. When they announced they were looking for a new host city, more than 100 locations indicated they were interested. The finalists were whittled down to Salt Lake City, Utah, Boulder, Colo., and Cincinnati, Ohio.
In a news release announcing the finalists, the institute wrote that the candidates were assessed on their "ethos and equity values, infrastructure, and capabilities to host the Festival, in addition to demonstrating ways in which they will continue to foster the diverse Sundance community and inspire the next generation of independent filmmakers."
The institute wrote they were looking to preserve their core principles. "Each finalist demonstrated how they would welcome and continue to foster the diverse Sundance Institute and Festival community and culture of independent creativity."
Support for LAist comes from
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will continue to take place in Utah next winter.
Copyright 2025 NPR
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Heavy rain is expected to fall in the L.A. area between tonight and Thursday. So take your poncho if you're headed to Dodger Stadium. -
First aspiring spectators must register online, then later in 2026 there will be a series of drawings.
-
It's thanks to Tropical Storm Mario, so also be ready for heat and humidity, and possibly thunder and lightning.
-
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass suspended a state law allowing duplexes, calling more housing unsafe. But in Altadena, L.A. County leaders say these projects could be key for rebuilding.
-
L.A. County investigators have launched a probe into allegations about Va Lecia Adams Kellum and people she hired at the L.A. Homeless Services Authority.
-
This measure on the Nov. 4, 2025, California ballot is part of a larger battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year.
![A Black woman sits at a dais with a flag in the background. A name placard in front of her reads: Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kell[um].](https://scpr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5425437/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6298x3897+0+0/resize/640x396!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscpr-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F76%2F00%2Febed9a7a4fbd9e5ba12997e51d59%2Fgettyimages-1258669633.jpg)
Best of LAist