The Sundance Film Festival is known for movie screenings, late night parties and celebrity sightings. Last weekend, fans crowded around as Seth Rogan, Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde arrived on the red carpet for a premiere. The stars then hustled inside for the screening, which was at the local high school.
Mike Batie and his mother, Adele Vasquez, were waiting by the red carpet to see Seth Rogan and perhaps get an autograph.
“What’s not to love him in?” Batie said. “All of his humor is just fantastic and he’s always nice.”
The pair has been coming to Sundance from Oregon every year since 2007.
“The art, the pinch me moments,” Vasquez said. “It’s magical. We just collect magical moments.”
In order to experience these moments, festival attendees spend much of their visit engaging in a well-worn festival pastime: waiting in line.
“I'm trying to stay warm,” Texas filmmaker Imole Ladipo said, while clutching her long jacket. “It is cold.”
Ladipo stood with a few new friends on Park City’s historic Main Street, waiting in front of a bright red storefront.
“The entire festival has been a waiting in line experience for me,” Ladipo said with a laugh.
Attendees stand in long lines for everything from screenings to coffees to parties. Last year, 85,000 people attended the festival. The northern Front Range can expect a flood of these visitors in 2027.
The waiting is one indicator of the hectic excitement that will be coming to Boulder’s businesses, streets and theaters next year.
“It's not just about watching the films,” Ladipo said. “There's businesses that come with that.”
In addition to screenings, Sundance is a place for people to learn about the business side of the film industry with panel discussions, filmmaker meet-ups and events called activations, a signature element of the festival.
Activations are local shops, transformed. Industry businesses rent out these spaces and make them into something else: from a champagne bar to a place to display camera equipment.
One large activation on Park City’s Main Street takes up a three-floor art gallery. The editing software company, Adobe, has made it into a technical demonstration space; the entry-way is wrapped in the company’s signature red. Big screens hang on the walls. Two bars serve up coffee, hot chocolate and snacks.
“I've kind of seen it as akin to a movie set being built,” Cris Jones, the director of strategic partnership for the city of Boulder, said of preparations for the festival.
Jones and other city representatives, including fire and police personnel, are in town to watch and learn.
“We think about CU football games– that brings in a ton of people,” Jones said. “But they come in and they go out. This is a two week engagement.”
In an agreement signed earlier this month, Boulder committed to contributing police, transportation and city property to the festival, among other incentives. In turn, Jones thinks Boulder businesses will see a big economic benefit, especially in the slower winter months.
“It's really the most challenging quarter for our small businesses, particularly in the eating spaces,” Jones said. “And so I’m really hopeful that our restaurant community, especially, is going to be able to bridge that gap.”
Not every business thrives, but many do get a boost. Last year, visitors spent $160 million in Utah during the festival.
For Davanza’s, a low-key spot for beer and pizza just off of Main Street, the first weekend of Sundance is generally their busiest time of year. They stay open until midnight instead of 9 p.m.
“This place almost turns into a nightclub. It's hilarious,” said Nate Barkdull, a long-time manager at Davanza’s. “I'm like, this is not this restaurant at all. People are up on the chairs and tables dancing.”
Barkdull thinks Sundance will be a good fit for Boulder, compared to Park City, a town of around 8,000 residents.
“I love Boulder. I'm a big fan – love Colorado. So, I get why they're going there. I think the infrastructure that Boulder has, it's a much bigger city, lots of space to hold it,” Barkdull said. “But for me, it's kind of bittersweet.”
