Colorado film boosters on Thursday announced a plan to lure the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival to Boulder in 2027.
The proposal would help put Colorado on the map internationally as “the center of the film industry,” Gov. Jared Polis told The Denver Post on Thursday, joining other renowned festivals in Telluride, Denver and Boulder. He touted a potential economic impact of $100 million and said Boulder is already poised to host it.
“January is a traditionally slow time for tourism in Denver and Boulder, but (Boulder) has the capacity to serve the estimated 40,000-plus people that would participate,” Polis said.
Officials at the 44-year-old film festival, which for the past 40 years has taken place each January in Park City, Utah, began considering new host locations for the event — founded by Robert Redford — in April. Boulder responded in May, along with several other cities nationally, according to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Their official application is due Friday, June 21.
“We’ve got the mountain backdrop, the capacity at hotels and the Denver International Airport, and the fact that Robert Redford has historical ties to Boulder,” having attend University of Colorado in Boulder, Polis said.
Redford attended University of Colorado on a half-scholarship from 1955 to 1957 and worked at The Sink. The school kicked him out after a year and half, according to the Associated Press, for his poor academic performance and heavy drinking. His children Shauna and James also graduated from the school.
He went on to find great success in film, winning an Oscar and helping start the Sundance Film Festival (named later after his movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which featured scenes filmed in Colorado) in 1978, along with Wildwood Enterprices, Inc., partner Sterling Van Wagenen, and John Earle and Cirina Hampton-Catania of the Utah Film Commission, according to the festival.
The Colorado Office of Film Television and Media (COFTM) and the Business Funding and Incentives division of the OEDIT joined Visit Boulder to develop the proposal, which touts Boulder as a prime location to grow the fest’s footprint “while engaging diverse audiences.”
OEDIT this morning approved a one-time, $1.5 million incentive as part of the proposal. More pledges have come from the City of Boulder (for an unspecified amount), OEDIT ($325,000 — which includes $250,000 from COFTM over five years), and one-time payments from the Colorado Tourism Office ($50,000) and Colorado Creative Industries ($25,000). The goal is to double the incentive money, at the very least, officials said, putting the overall amount at more than $4 million.
Hosting the festival would create hundreds of jobs, officials said, and benefit local businesses. Colorado’s creative industries contribute $16.8 billion to the economy every year and account for nearly 4% of jobs, said Eve Lieberman, executive director of OEDIT. The festival will not compete with other events but rather complement existing fests in Colorado, she told The Denver Post.
“Historically the Colorado film office has offered financial support and resources to help marketing and social media for festivals across the state,” she said. “We expect that to continue. What’s good for Sundance will be good for (all festivals) in Colorado.”
Neither Lieberman nor Gov. Polis have attended the Sundance Film Festival in the past, they said.
Like all live events, Sundance took several years off after COVID and went all-digital, but returned in 2023 with 175 films in competition, according to Sundance. For decades the festival has been an important stage to debut independent features, a market for snapping them up, and a buzz-building event for awards shows.
The event in 2023 drew more than 130,000 in-person attendees to watch more than 90 films and 60 shorts, according to NBC affiliate KLS 5 Utah. The event contributed about $118 million to Utah’s economy last year while creating 1,608 jobs for residents and $63 million in wages, according to OEDIT. More than 21,000 visitors came from out of state.
“When the Sundance Institute invited us to explore Boulder as a potential location for the Film Festival, we recognized an incredible opportunity to contribute to a longstanding artistic tradition while boosting visitation and local business support during a traditionally quiet time of year …,” said Charlene Hoffman, CEO of Visit Boulder, in a statement.
The 2025 and 2026 Sundance Film Festivals will be held in Park City as planned, according to events organizer Northstar Meetings Group. The 2025 festival is scheduled to take place in Park City and Salt Lake City from Jan. 23 through Feb. 2.
Its contract with the city expires at that time, which is why the festival is taking other bids.
