As the Sundance Film Festival prepares to launch its final run in Utah six months from now, organizers are committed to making the ultimate event “one to remember,” Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and public programming, wrote in an open letter to patrons on Monday.
The festival that has been in Park City for more than 40 years is heading to Boulder, Colorado, for 2027, but Hernandez emphasized this year’s focus is “a celebration full of gratitude and joy” — one that honors the decades of history in the Beehive State.
“Yes, this is a big change, but right now it’s important for us to take this moment and acknowledge all the milestones and memories that we’ve shared together in Park City,” Hernandez wrote.
Here’s a brief overview of what to expect from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival — including the absence of a longtime Park City venue.
When is the 2026 Sundance Film Festival?
Utah’s final Sundance Film Festival will run Jan. 22–Feb. 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City.
Premiere screenings for films and episodic projects take place Jan. 22-27, with additional showings available throughout the entire festival.
The festival is expected to showcase 90-plus feature films and more than 50 shorts, Hernandez shared in his letter.
As has been the case since the pandemic, when the 2021 festival went virtual, select movies will be available online during the second half of the festival, from Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.
Earlier this year, the festival pulled two films from its virtual offerings after scenes were leaked online. “Selena y Los Dinos,” a movie about Queen of Tejano music Selena Quintanilla, and “Twinless,” a dark comedy starring Dylan O’Brien and Lauren Graham, were taken down due to issues of piracy and copyright infringement, Vulture reported.
Where will the Sundance Film Festival take place?
Venues in Park City and Salt Lake City will screen Sundance films — though the Egyptian Theatre in Park City is notably missing from the list. Hernandez didn’t address the absence of the venue in his letter. In an email to the Deseret News, Randy Barton, the theater’s director, noted that the venue is celebrating its 100th anniversary and will be programming live performances.
“We wish the festival the very best,” Barton wrote.
Park City venues include:
- Eccles Theatre
- Holiday Village Cinemas
- Library Center Theatre
- The Ray Theatre
- Redstone Cinemas
- The Yarrow Theatre
The Salt Lake City venues are:
- Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
- Broadway Centre Cinemas
Celebrating Robert Redford’s vision
“Special moments” throughout the 2026 Sundance Film Festival will recognize founder Robert Redford’s “unwavering commitment to the nurturing and development of independent storytellers and their stories,” Hernandez shared.
That recognition includes the annual Sundance Film Festival Celebration on Jan. 23, held at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, which will honor Redford’s vision by raising funds to support independent artists year-round, the festival director wrote.
Honoring 40-plus years in Park City
The festival launched in 1978 as the Utah/United States Film Festival and was first held in Salt Lake City, the Deseret News reported. It eventually moved to Park City in 1981 and morphed into the Sundance Film Festival after the Sundance Institute took over.
Hernandez noted that a “joyful appreciation of 40-plus years of seminal independent cinema” in Park City will begin Jan. 28, about midway through the upcoming festival.
The celebrations will include “archival screenings, restorations and special events,” he said.
Park City’s Main Street will be pedestrian-only during the festival.
“As we stroll up and down Main Street ... we’re looking forward to commemorating the cherished experiences that we built together while looking to the future,” Hernandez wrote.
The Sundance Film Festival moves to Boulder
The Sundance Film Festival announced back in March that it would be relocating to Boulder, sparking a wide range of reactions from local leaders and filmmakers.
“I’m still licking my wounds,” “Minecraft” director Jared Hess, whose film “Napoleon Dynamite” was a breakout success at Sundance back in 2004, previously told the Deseret News. “It’s depressing, it’s so sad. It’s the end of an era.
“Just so many amazing memories up there — not just for myself, but every filmmaker that’s ever participated in the film festival — and to have it go, that we couldn’t somehow pull it together to keep the festival here, it’s heartbreaking," he continued.
The festival has been an economic boon for the state, pumping billions of dollars into Utah’s economy, according to the Deseret News.
Per the 2024 Sundance economic impact report from Y2 Analytics, more than 72,000 people attended the festival between Jan. 18 and Jan. 28 last year, resulting in 141,212 tickets redeemed at screenings.
More than 24,000 attendees hailed from out of state, and spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the festival, the Deseret News reported.
In total, the Deseret News reported, the 2024 festival contributed the following to Utah’s economy:
- $132 million in gross domestic product
- 1,730 jobs for residents
- $69.7 million in wages
- $13.8 million in state and local tax revenue
But as Sundance departs, there has been talk of creating a new festival that “honors our legacy and writes the next chapter of independent film in Utah,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox shared on X shortly after the announcement.
The Utah Film Commission and the Utah Office of Tourism, meanwhile, believes the state’s film industry will continue to thrive even after Sundance makes its exit.
“Utah’s robust film industry has grown far beyond one event,” said Virginia Pearce, Utah Film Commission director, per Deseret News. “We’ve cultivated a thriving ecosystem of talent, infrastructure and incentives that will continue to attract filmmakers and productions to our beautiful state.”