Film Festivals

The Sundance Film Festival is entering a new chapter in 2027. After more than four decades in Utah, the festival will move to Boulder, Colorado, where it will welcome filmmakers, industry professionals, volunteers and audiences from January 21 through January 31, 2027. The move marks more than a change of scenery. Sundance is building its new home around a compact festival footprint, a major university partnership and a community with an established connection to arts, education and independent storytelling. For longtime Sundance followers, the transition raises an obvious question: what will the festival actually look like in Boulder? The answer is becoming clearer as organizers reveal venues, programming plans and ways for local residents and visitors to participate. The festival will bring world premieres, conversations, special events and independent films to a new Colorado audience while maintaining its long-standing focus on discovering and supporting artists. The 2027 edition will also create opportunities beyond simply watching films. Volunteers can apply to help operate the festival, while students can engage through dedicated volunteer options and Sundance’s growing relationship with the University of Colorado Boulder. That combination gives the Boulder edition a distinctly community-oriented character from the start. Sundance Is Coming to Boulder in 2027 The 2027 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 21 through January 31, 2027, marking Boulder’s first year as the festival’s new home. The Colorado edition will feature world premieres, artist conversations, special events and additional screenings throughout its 11-day run. Sundance’s focus on new films also makes it a useful destination for audiences following upcoming releases and emerging projects, including films such as Wicker, which has generated interest ahead of its release. World premieres are scheduled from January 21 through January 26, giving audiences the chance to see new films and other projects first. The annual festival gala will take place on January 22, while an online program will give some audiences outside Colorado another way to participate. One major advantage of the Boulder festival is its compact layout. Key venues, including Macky Auditorium, Old Main, Roe Green Theatre and Muenzinger Auditorium, are located within roughly a two-mile radius. Boulder High School and the Pearl Street area are also close to the main festival locations. This setup could make getting around easier for attendees. Visitors can walk or cycle between venues, while public transportation provides additional options. Boulder also has more than 300 miles of bike and multi-use paths, giving festivalgoers alternatives to driving between screenings. Why Sundance Is Moving From Park City to Boulder Sundance’s decision to leave its longtime Utah home followed an extensive search for a future location. In March 2025, the Sundance Institute selected Boulder as the festival’s new home beginning in 2027 after considering several finalist communities. The institute described Boulder as a city with an active arts scene, engaged community and strong connections across areas such as technology, music, food, entrepreneurship and education. The End of the Park City Era For decades, Park City and Sundance became closely associated in the public imagination. The festival’s Utah setting helped establish a distinctive identity built around independent filmmaking, packed screening rooms, filmmaker conversations and a highly concentrated annual gathering of the film community. Moving away from that familiar environment therefore represents a significant institutional change. Sundance, however, has framed the transition as an opportunity to preserve its core mission while creating a sustainable long-term home. The organization has emphasized that its commitment to independent artists and storytelling will remain central even as the physical setting changes. The shift also changes the relationship between the festival and its host community. In Boulder, Sundance is arriving alongside an established university, creative industries and local cultural organizations. That creates opportunities for the festival to connect with audiences and institutions throughout the year rather than concentrating its presence around the January event alone. Why Boulder Won the Bid Boulder’s appeal extends beyond its location in Colorado. Sundance identified the city’s combination of community character, arts activity and educational resources as important advantages. The city also offers a setting where film, technology, entrepreneurship, music and education already intersect, giving Sundance several potential avenues for collaboration. CU Boulder adds another major dimension. The university has a longstanding presence in film, video, screenwriting, acting, producing and entertainment journalism, while Robert Redford, who founded the Sundance Institute, attended the university from 1954 to 1956. That history gives the Boulder move a particularly notable connection to Sundance’s origins. The result is a host city that can offer Sundance more than theaters. It can provide students, researchers, volunteers, artists and local audiences with ways to participate in the festival’s broader ecosystem. As the 2027 debut approaches, that relationship may become one of the defining features of Sundance’s new Colorado era. Sundance Volunteer Opportunities Are Opening Soon For anyone hoping to experience Sundance from behind the scenes, volunteering offers one of the clearest ways to become part of the festival community. The Sundance Institute describes its volunteers as essential to running the festival and supporting independent storytelling. For the 2027 Boulder edition, applications will open on August 31, 2026. The festival itself will run January 21–31, 2027. Sundance is also holding optional online information sessions for prospective volunteers. These sessions explain the basics of the festival, how the volunteer program works and what applicants should understand before submitting an application. The organization recommends that interested people review the available information and attend a session if they want a clearer picture of the commitment involved. The scale of the program is significant. Rocky Mountain PBS reported that Sundance expects to fill more than 2,000 volunteer positions for the Boulder festival. Those roles span areas such as media relations, customer service, ushering and venue operations. That range means volunteering is not limited to people with film-industry experience. Instead, the program needs people who can help audiences, artists and festival teams navigate the practical demands of a major international event. For prospective applicants, timing matters. The application opening provides the first important date to mark on