Hi there, Boulder! After months of hypothesis, fear, and surprise, the Sundance Movie Competition has at present introduced its new host metropolis, beginning in 2027. After yet one more yr in Park Metropolis, Utah, the pageant will decamp additional east, choosing up stakes for Boulder, Colorado. So, what’s that going to appear to be?
Because the pageant bandied about its potential new properties, in the end drilling down on three finalists, IndieWire dug into the professionals and cons of every metropolis (together with Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah and Cincinnati, Ohio). The consequence? We’ve got a reasonably good deal with on what the 2027 version of the pageant will appear to be in its model new dwelling.
One factor which may have set Boulder other than the gang? Its small-town really feel (one thing that has been lacking from Park Metropolis lately), mixed with a vibrant arts scene, a younger neighborhood (together with numerous school college students from College of Colorado Boulder), and the type of pure magnificence that has confirmed inseparable from the general Sundance model.
All that, and room to develop.
It’s additionally one thing that Sundance has lengthy ceased to be: really walkable. In Boulder, Sundance will orient itself round downtown and the pedestrian-only Pearl Road (a four-block pedestrian mall that spans from eleventh to fifteenth Road), which is able to supply entry to eating places, cafes, classic theaters, efficiency arts areas, a multiplex, college services, and different auditoriums.
One main fan of Pearl Road already? Sundance Institute CEO Amanda Kelso, who was thrilled concerning the central location and chatted it up in an interview with IndieWire this morning, dwell from Boulder. “One of many issues that I actually love is Pearl Road, which is a pedestrian mall,” she stated. “The final time I used to be right here, there was somebody simply strolling down the road dressed like a pirate. It wasn’t Halloween! It’s acquired this enjoyable, eclectic vibe to it. I really like my cafes, and there’s 52 espresso outlets right here, one for every week of the yr. It’s a school city, so it does have a spot the place you’ll be able to go get a late night time slice of pizza, however there’s additionally some actually enjoyable, fancy Michelin eating places as effectively.”
Proper off Pearl Road? The century-old, 850-seat Boulder Theater. A mile and a half away, there’s the 16-screen Cinemark Century Boulder, providing 4 occasions as many screens as Park Metropolis’s annual venue Vacation Village, which is itself about the identical distance from Park Metropolis’s Important Road hall.
Different Boulder venues embrace the beloved and delightful Macky Auditorium, a live performance corridor that seats greater than 2,000 and will turn into the town’s model of the Eccles for big-ticket premieres. In an interview with IndieWire this morning, Sundance Movie Competition Director and Head of Public Programming Eugene Hernandez was significantly thrilled concerning the theaters on supply.
“For me, it’s the film theaters,” Hernandez stated. “The Macky, this lovely auditorium, an iconic constructing, I can’t wait to indicate films there and to have that as a premier venue for our pageant. So most of the cool artwork areas that we’ve been in a position capable of discover right here in Boulder have been actually thrilling for us. The Boulder Theater, which is a good music venue, can be an excellent film venue. There’s an excellent pageant scene in Boulder and in Colorado, and that richness of the movie scene, the artwork scene, the pageant scene, that’s actually thrilling for us.”
Hernandez additionally spoke extremely of the Dairy Arts Heart, a 20-minute stroll from Pearl Road (which hosts a lot of Boulder’s inns) which seats 500. There are additionally varied screening areas at CU Boulder, which additionally performs dwelling to its personal strong movie program, filling that want for younger blood on the pageant.
For anybody lacking the pure fantastic thing about Utah, Colorado ought to scratch a reasonably good itch. Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board Chair, joined Hernandez and Kelso for this morning’s interview. As we chatted, the trio might look proper outdoors their lodge’s home windows to see the unfold of the pageant’s new dwelling.
“I personally don’t at all times get to spend that a lot time actually in the mountains. And so for me, it’s the character, I’m looking of the window proper now at it!,” Burnough stated. “It’s this expanse, this large sky, and these lovely mountains. That type of power feeds the soul. Being right here, even proper now, I really feel fed. And I feel that’s a extremely thrilling factor, particularly being an individual who lives predominantly in a metropolis, it’s nourishing.”
From a extra sensible perspective, Boulder ought to supply some actual ease for time- and cash-strapped Sundance attendees. The town presents a share of each luxurious and economic system lodge choices, together with the Limelight Boulder lodge, which is opening this August, with 252 visitor rooms and 26,000 toes of occasion area — together with a first-for-downtown-Boulder convention middle that would host pageant panels. The Moxy Boulder, situated close to the Macky Auditorium, additionally opened in 2024. The downtown St. Julien Resort & Spa brings a luxurious choice.
Boulder is a couple of 45-minute drive from Denver Worldwide Airport, the third-largest worldwide airport in america. That’s on par with the present drive from Salt Lake Metropolis’s airport to Park Metropolis. The Denver airport companies nonstop flights from Los Angeles and New York and is a hub for worldwide flights coming into and out of america.
For now, nevertheless, the trio are largely excited to get folks to Boulder to see for themselves. “We’ll see you in 2027 on the Sundance Movie Competition. 2027 in Boulder,” Burnough stated. “It’s a lot extra thrilling to be enthusiastic about issues and it’s additionally a lot extra thrilling to truly present up and and absorb one thing new and be engaged with it. Isn’t it nice to be shocked typically?”
You’ll be able to learn extra concerning the different two finalists who have been within the combine to play dwelling to Sundance proper right here. The 2026 Sundance Movie Competition, the ultimate version to happen in Park Metropolis, Utah, will unfold January 22 – February 1, 2026.
Further reporting by Ryan Lattanzio and Brian Welk.