Sundance Festival's Utah Departure Sparks Era-End Fears Among Devotees
The Sundance Film Festival, a legendary pillar of independent cinema, is preparing for a monumental relocation that has ignited profound nostalgia and apprehension among its most loyal participants. As this year's event wrapped up in Park City, Utah, a single question dominated conversations: "Will you follow the festival when it moves to Boulder?" For numerous veteran attendees, the response is a definitive and emotional no.
An Unbreakable Bond with Utah
Butch Ward, a media professional from Fort Lauderdale who has attended Sundance regularly since the early 1990s, perfectly captures this sentiment. He has declared he will not accompany the festival to its new Colorado home next year, viewing the 2026 event as the final authentic Sundance. "A Sundance outside Utah just isn't Sundance," Ward stated emphatically. This feeling was visibly widespread, with some participants wearing yellow scarves declaring "Our last Sundance 2026" or holding signs labelling it "the last Sundance."
Actor Suzie Taylor, an intermittent attendee since 1997, elaborated on the deep connection. "It’s not just a resistance to change. Robert Redford's vision was rooted here. And isn’t it poetic that he passed right before the last one?" she reflected. Julie Nunis, an actor from Los Angeles with nearly annual attendance since 2001, similarly cherishes the tradition Redford established over four decades ago, stating she does not wish to experience the festival in any other setting.
The Founding Vision and a New Chapter
Robert Redford, who founded the festival and its development programmes in the Utah mountains, passed away in September at the age of 89. He created a sanctuary for independent storytelling, intentionally distanced from Hollywood's commercial pressures. Notably, Redford—an alumnus of the University of Colorado Boulder—gave his blessing for the festival's relocation before his death.
Boulder was selected as the new host city following an extensive year-long search across numerous US locations. Festival organisers cited the event outgrowing Park City—the ski town it helped popularise—and a desire to move away from an "air of exclusivity" that had begun to overshadow the films themselves.
Concerns Over Identity and Legacy
While some film professionals and volunteers remain open to giving Boulder a chance, significant concerns persist about Sundance potentially losing its distinctive character away from its long-standing base. Lauren Garcia, a volunteer from Seattle for the past six years, admitted curiosity might draw her to Colorado but spoke of a palpable sadness at the final Utah festival. She pondered whether Redford's passing signals a natural conclusion to this era.
"How is the festival going to express itself in a new place and continue his legacy? It's a huge question mark," said Garcia, an anthropologist. "The truth is, it's never going to be the same now that he's gone."
Institutional Reassurance and New Beginnings
Amy Redford, Robert Redford’s daughter and a trustee on the Sundance Institute's board, expressed excitement for the transition while acknowledging the considerable learning curve ahead. Actor and filmmaker Nik Dodani, known for his LGBT+ storytelling, welcomed the move to a state embracing diversity but voiced apprehension that the departure could create a "vacuum" for such narratives in Utah.
Amy Redford offered crucial reassurance, confirming that the most cherished part of her father's legacy—the institute’s lab programmes for emerging screenwriters and directors—will remain in Utah at the resort he founded south of Park City. These programmes will continue to foster "the civil discourse that we really need to be having in the state."
"Boulder, Colorado, will be a new adventure. It will feel like our beginnings when we were trying to figure things out, and that will have an important impact on what we do," she told The Associated Press. "But the way that we meet artists where they need to be, well, that evolves out of a heartbeat that is here" in Utah.
