The Sundance Film Festival is Boulder bound, leaving its home of four decades in Park City, Utah, for a new chapter in neighboring Colorado. Organizers Thursday after a yearlong search in which numerous U.S.
cities vied to host the nation’s premiere independent film festival. The other finalists were Cincinnati, Ohio, and a combined . Festival leaders said politics did not influence their move from conservative Utah to liberal Colorado.
They did however make “ethos and equity values” one of their criteria and referred to Boulder in their announcement as a “welcoming environment.” Why was Boulder chosen? Boulder stood out to organizers as an artsy, walkable and medium-sized city close to nature. It has one of the highest concentrations of professional artists in the U.
S. and is home to the University of Colorado, where the film program contributes to a vibrant art scene, Sundance leaders said. They noted the large student population and campus venues will create new opportunities to engage young people in the event.
Nearby nature in the Rocky Mountain foothills offers room for visitors and artists to stretch their legs and draw inspiration from high country scenery. It’s also just over half an hour from downtown Denver and not much farther to the city’s international airport. When Sundance leaders began their search for a new home, they said the festival had outgrown the charming ski town of Park City and developed an air of exclusivity that took focus away from .