Amongst the festival’s three finalists—Boulder, Cincinnati, Ohio, and its current home in Utah—Boulder was perhaps the most obvious choice. Sundance’s current iteration was beginning to outgrow the snowy Utah enclave (plus skiers and locals were reportedly getting sick of having to carve around Hollywood types at their favorite aprés spots every season), but keeping the fest’s characteristic alpine aesthetic was clearly a priority for the search committee. In a statement, Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute Acting CEO, lauded Boulder for being an “art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town” where the festival can “build and flourish.” “One of the things that we also thought about is one of Robert Redford’s founding principles, which is this notion of making sure that the festival has a sense of space and a sense of place,” she added, per Variety. As Boulder is surrounded by the Flat Iron Mountain Range, “when you’re walking from theater to theater, you’ll really get this opportunity to sort of metabolize what you just watched while convening in nature.”
In 2027, Boulder’s downtown will transform into the central hub of the festival, with the city’s existing theaters and venues hosting screenings and other events. The pedestrian-only Pearl Street Mall will also be used as a gathering space, as well as select locations on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Sundance’s leadership expects Boulder to have more venues available than Park City, according to Variety.
While Sundance has historically launched numerous acclaimed films such as Get Out, Little Miss Sunshine, Whiplash, Reservoir Dogs, Memento, Before Sunrise, and many others, 2025 was a relatively rough year for the festival. Usually the site of multiple bidding wars, only a handful of films—like the Alison Brie and Dave Franco horror romp Together and Joel Edgerton-led historical drama Train Dreams—found immediate distribution this time around. That’s as much a reflection on the state of indie filmmaking as it is the place of the festival, but hopefully the move will infuse some buzz back into the proceedings.
Even though 2026 will be Sundance’s last year in Utah, organizers aren’t forgetting the festival’s roots or the filmgoing community that made its name. “The Utah audience has for 40-plus years, shown up year after year and been an incredibly enthusiastic and embracing audience for this festival,” said Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Film Festival Director. “I frankly, can’t wait to be there on day one, on January 22, 2026, to start unveiling the next program and and in all sincerity, invite that loyal, committed audience of Sundance Film Festival fans to continue that relationship with us in 2027 and beyond.”
