Sundance: Park City’s Pedestrian-Only Main Street Move Proves A Success With Attendees, But Possible Festival Relocation Sees Boulder Flexing Its Muscle
EXCLUSIVE: No final decision has been made on whether the Sundance Film Festival will stay in Utah or move to either Boulder, CO or Cincinnati in 2027, but for attendees gathering this year a big change on Park City’s Main Street has received a full thumbs-up so far.
“I love it, bumping into people I haven’t see in ages, not feeling so congested,” one filmmaker told Deadline on Friday of the newly car-free main drag. “It’s a way better vibe,” added an executive walking in the middle of the road near Main Street Pizza & Noodle.
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Usually, a nightmare obstacle course of cars, delivery vans, loading trucks and Sundance-sponsored vehicles trying to get high-profile cast and directors to events, Main Street by the second day of the festival makes Los Angeles’ 405 Freeway at rush hour look like a Formula 1 track. This year, as families with baby strollers and groups of cinema fans ambled by amid the thousands on the street on a warmer-than-expected Friday afternoon, the retailers were booming. Always popular stops like the Pink Elephant coffee shop at the back of the Prospect clothing store were more packed than in past years.
“It’s amazing, we’re thinking of extending our hours this weekend to meet the demand,” a local business owner said, waving her arm around her busy boutique.
Announced by Park City Police on January 15 in no small part due to the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans and to meet the modern-day realities of a festival that attracts close to 150,000 people, Main Street went pedestrian-only Thursday as Sundance’s opening day hit full swing. Concrete barriers were put in place near the top of Main Street next to the Treasure Mountain Inn hotel, blocking off the street all the way down to Kimball Street. With Kimball as a through-road and police and other security routing foot traffic and vehicles, blocked off Main Street continues down to the bottom of the road, past the Town Lift chair lift.
Still, with Sundance organizers expected to announce this spring if the Robert Redford-founded festival is leaving Utah after over 40 years, Boulder may be in the pole position. Representatives for the so-called “People’s Republic of Boulder” are in Park City this weekend, we’ve learned, to “case the joint,” as one local put it. Additionally, there are louder and louder whispers that the very blue city in the blue-ish state has a deal to become Sundance’s new home in the bag.
“Cincinnati is a no-way no-brainer,” an insider says of the Ohio city. “Boulder’s a pretty solid alternative.” Then again, sources tell me that all of the September 2024-revealed finalists remain in play, with some emphasizing “change is good” and that Cincinnati has charms and resources “bi-coastal media elites” might not be giving appropriate weight to. Others note the strong multimillion-dollar United Utah package that would see see Sundance stay local-ish, with Salt Lake City becoming the center of the festival and Park City a strong satellite.
In that context, Park City officials are putting all their cards on the table.
“I’m thrilled to see us all coming together again for the 41st edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” Park City Mayor Nann Worel told Deadline today, with an obvious eye to keeping the festival in the Beehive State.
“Over the past four decades, we’ve built an incredible experience together, and I hope festivalgoers and locals alike can take a moment to recognize that as they enjoy the best in film,” Worel continued. “I have been encouraged at the smiling faces (and dancing!) we are seeing on our car-free Main Street so far. Please enjoy this safe and vibrant space where we can come together to celebrate and connect.”
As a part of that celebrate-and-connect ethos, Main Street will see music and protests this weekend.
Similar in nature to a march last year protesting the war in Gaza, a quartet of groups will be on Main Street at about 1 p.m. MT on Saturday to protest “media complicity in genocide” and to seek “justice for Palestinians,” I’ve learned. The action is not directed at Sundance specifically, but aims to capture the attention of all the cameras in Park City to spotlight “a noticeable lack of Palestinian voices in media and entertainment generally, including films and TV shows,” a spokesperson for Salt Lake Artists Against Genocide said in a statement earlier this week.
On the other hand, Park City has already begun a weekend of shows up and down Main Street, with a 3 p.m. MT set by DJ Zaydee at the Annex. Along with Miner’s Park (which saw a set today by jazz and blues band Flamingo) and Top of Main Brew Pub, the Annex will have music in the afternoons Friday-Sunday.
Of course, with Sundance remaining one of the top markets for film buyers regardless of recent bumps in the road, to some it doesn’t matter where the festival is. As far as festival prospects go for sales and filmmaker discoveries, that translates into don’t judge a book by its cover.
“Every year when you look at the listing, you sigh and say ‘I dunno.’ But then without fail every year, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t see that one coming.’ That’s just the rhythm of Sundance of late. I just truly suspect that there’s several films that will surprise us,” says one powerhouse specialty studio executive.
Adds a film financier, “If the movies are good and critics and Sundance festival-goers like them, then the festival has served its purpose for launching a movie. The festival has thus created a market for a movie.”
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