Sundance Film Festival's Move to Boulder and Park City

The Sundance Film Festival has left Park City. Its last Utah edition ran Jan. 22 to Feb. 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, and from 2027 the festival is in Boulder, Colorado, starting with a Jan. 21–31, 2027 edition.

For anyone planning a ski trip, that means late January in Park City will look different from the roughly four decades the festival spent there. The ski resorts, the town and Sundance Mountain Resort in Provo Canyon all carry on as normal.

What's confirmed about the move

Sundance described the 2026 event as "the culmination" of its yearly gathering in Park City. When it announced the move, the Institute said "Park City and Utah will always be a formative part of the festival." Park City's own plans for that window were described as unclear at the time, and as of October 2026 we found no announced replacement event for January 2027.

What it means for January travel in Park City

The festival was big. Boulder Reporting Lab put in-person attendance in Park City at 85,000 in 2025, and a Sundance report found the 2024 festival generated $132 million in economic impact in Utah. Those visitors filled Park City in late January, right in the middle of ski season.

In 2027 that surge won't happen. What it will mean for lodging rates, restaurant bookings or traffic on I-80 and around Main Street isn't something anyone has published numbers on, so we won't guess. Treat late January 2027 like any other ski week and book early if you're set on a particular place.

The ski calendar still has its own busy dates in January. For 2026-27, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is a blackout date on Epic Local (Jan. 16, 2027) and on Ikon Base (Jan. 16–17, 2027). The holiday weeks around Christmas and New Year, and Presidents' Day weekend in February, are the other peaks. Season dates for every resort are in our Utah ski season dates guide.

Planning a January 2027 ski week in Park City

With the festival gone, a late-January trip is simply a mid-season ski trip. A few 2026-27 details matter more than the film calendar now.

• Park City Mountain is on the Epic Pass and projected to open Nov. 20, 2026. At Canyons Village, the new garage costs $29 a day with a reservation, but it's free for carpools of four or more and after 12 p.m. The new Skyway gondola links the garage to the village.
• Mountain Village parking (the base in town) needs a paid reservation at all surface lots again this season, with carpools free.
• Deer Valley is on the Ikon Pass for 7 days, with lift reservations required for Ikon holders. Its projected opening day is Dec. 5, 2026.
• Park City Transit is free and usually runs its winter schedule from early December to mid-April, so January is fully covered.

If you'd rather not deal with parking reservations at all, staying in town and using the free buses is the simplest setup.

Sundance Mountain Resort is a separate place

The name causes confusion. Sundance Mountain Resort is a ski area in Provo Canyon, about an hour from SLC airport by the resort's own estimate and about 45 minutes from Park City. It's not in Park City and it isn't part of the festival's move.

It's operating for 2026-27. The Deseret News lists a new Electric Horseman high-speed quad and about 100 new acres, including a run called Storyteller. Opening day hadn't been announced as of early October 2026. Sundance isn't on the Epic, Ikon or Mountain Collective passes.

To get there from the airport, you take I-15 south to Orem, then US-189 up Provo Canyon and a short climb on SR-92. Our guide to getting from SLC airport to Sundance covers the drive, parking and the UTA bus.

Getting to Park City in January

Nothing about the drive changes. From SLC airport you take I-80 east through Parleys Canyon, about 35 to 39 miles in normal conditions. January is mid-winter, so UDOT's traction law on I-80 can be in force during storms. Our SLC airport to Park City guide compares every way to make the trip, and if you're staying at Deer Valley, check which base area you need first.

Once you're in town, Park City's buses are free and link Old Town with both ski resorts. The Park City car guide explains when you can skip the rental.

If you're going to the festival in Boulder

This site covers Utah, so we can't help much with Boulder. The festival runs Jan. 21–31, 2027, and the official details, venues and travel information are on sundance.org.