Local News
By Joseph Reardon, Staff Writer
The Sundance Institute announced that Boulder, Co. would be the new home for the Sundance Film Festival, beating out Cincinnati and Park City, Utah.
Festival officials first announced they would open a bid process for a new host city in April 2024, as the event’s contract with Park City, Utah, where it has been held since 1981, expires in 2026.
“This decision was informed by a detailed evaluation of the key components essential to creating our Festival. During the process, it became clear that Boulder is the ideal location in which to build our Festival’s future, marking a key strategic step in its natural evolution,” Sundance Institute Board Chair, Ebs Burnough, said.
The Sundance Institute’s year-long process included a request for information on locations, a formal request for proposals, meetings and site visits of finalists. This comprehensive process evaluated each city’s infrastructure, event-hosting capabilities, commitment to equity and inclusion and long-term sustainability.
The city of Boulder, which was selected over Cincinnati as the future home of Sundance.
Finalists were also judged on their ability to support and grow Sundance’s global community of independent artists and audiences. Organizers emphasized the importance of maintaining the Festival’s culture of innovation and creativity.
Cincinnati’s exact bid package was not made public, but city officials pledged a $2.5 million investment as part of it in Oct. 2024. A delegation from Cincinnati attended Sundance 2025, which included Mayor Aftab Pureval, who put on what he called “the full charm offensive.”
Those in favor of moving the star-studded event to the Queen City noted the city’s robust history of hosting film crews to shoot major releases like “Rain Man,” “The Ides of March” and “Superman.” The historic neighborhoods, lively arts and cultural community and walkable downtown were among the characteristics stakeholders posed to support Cincinnati’s bid.
Sundance’s established reputation and brand of being in a ski town, however, was tossed around as an indicator that Cincinnati was unfit to host. In addition, although festival leaders said politics did not influence their decision to choose the socially liberal state of Colorado over the more socially conservative states of Ohio and Utah, they did make “ethos and equity values” one of their criteria. They referred to Boulder in their announcement as a “welcoming environment.”
The decision is a major economic loss for the Queen City. Out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the 2024 festival. Its total economic impact that year was estimated at $132 million, with 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $70 million in wages for local workers. These are economic benefits that the city of Cincinnati, and Ohio as a whole, will miss out on.
Hosting the festival could have also significantly increased Cincinnati’s profile as a hub for the entertainment industry and driven long-term investment in the local creative economy.
While Mayor Pureval has not publicly commented on the festival’s decision to move to Boulder, Film Cincinnati’s President Kristen Schlotman acknowledged the outcome.
“While Cincinnati was not selected to host the Sundance Film Festival, we are proud of how our city demonstrated its dynamic role within the film industry,” Schlotman said in a statement.
