Sundance Film Festival Might Be Relocating From Its Iconic Location: Report

A report last night suggested that the Sundance Film Festival, founded by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and a cultural staple in Park City, Utah, was exploring new locations, with cities in New Mexico and Arkansas in the mix to host the storied multi-day event. If you spotted that story on Twitter last night, though, you might go back to find it's gone now. In the original story over at Deadline, a representative for Sundance has denied that they are looking for a new home at all. The current deal between Sundance and Park City goes until at least 2026.

The Sundance Resort, where a number of activities take place around the convention, has been under renovation since Redford sold it in 2020. That seems to be the source of the rumor and any confusion about relocating the festival.

"The Festival is based in Utah," a representative for the Sundance Film Festival told Deadline. "We are not exploring new locations. We look forward to everyone joining us there for our 40th edition, January 18-28 at the Festival."

"We currently, as well as in the past, run our year-round artist program labs in various locations from Utah to New Mexico to Massachusetts to Los Angeles to Texas to Wyoming as well internationally and online," the rep added. "One of our primary locations is undergoing construction, so we are exploring alternatives for where the in-person elements of some of our labs can take place should the construction be an issue."

With a contract in place for a few more years, it's entirely possible that the original report was true, and Sundance just doesn't want a fight with Park City right now. It's equally plausible that this rep can be taken at face value, and the original report was just a result of a game of "telephone" that muddled what was actually being relocated.

Santa Fe, one of the cities reportedly in the running for...whatever is going on...has become a production hot spot in recent years, so one some level it would make sense to associate itself with one of the biggest and most storied film festivals in the world. Tax breaks attract producers, but festivals and other creative and social opportunities attract artists, and that's a good way to expand the city's appeal not just to the industry but to tourists as well.