Daily Camera Opinion
Published Wednesday, May 20, 2026
One of the best parts of talking to community members about the upcoming arrival of the Sundance Film Festival in 2027 has been hearing the excitement and eagerness of Boulderites to welcome attendees here. There truly is a spirit of pride and enthusiasm for the Festival among our welcoming Boulder community.
When it comes to hotels, it has been a community effort, and they have all participated in meaningful ways. As the Festival moves from a resort town to our city, we thank our Boulder hotels for their partnership in welcoming guests to the Festival. It’s been incredible to see our hotels generously come together to offer affordable room rates, making Boulder accessible to future Festival-goers.
We also want to thank all of the organizations, businesses and municipalities who have been working together to build the infrastructure for our city to welcome thousands of guests from around the state, country and the world.
With so much that is new to us all, there is a lot to learn together. To help us on this journey, we want to share some valuable insight: industry context, current day challenges as well as information about the different constituencies who will attend, lodging booking patterns, and more, so that we can ensure year one in Boulder is the best experience for all.
While we prepare for this landmark cultural moment, we’ve heard many questions from people. As part of the team responsible for welcoming the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, we’d like to help share some background and provide some perspective on the Festival along with our goals and some guidance we hope will be helpful.
Setting the Scene
The Sundance Film Festival is a unique opportunity — not just for a few days, but for the long-term, multi-year success of Boulder as the host community for a globally recognized cultural event. How we welcome the Sundance Film Festival community will shape the impression of Boulder and hopefully create long-term relationships that will reverberate and benefit us all in January and create growth throughout the calendar year.
While the Film Festival carries prestige and is a world-class event, at its heart it is also an independent film festival orchestrated by a non-profit arts organization — one whose mission beautifully centers on nurturing the talent of many new filmmakers.
While there will be some studio presence and even some famous celebrities, the reality is that the vast majority of attendees renting hotel rooms, apartments and homes during the Festival are independent film companies, new filmmakers, filmgoers, staff, sponsors or partners operating with very practical budget constraints. Many of the filmmakers who attend have pieced together funds to make their film, and are then raising additional support to be able to attend their world premiere — the first public screening of their film. Many will share lodging with their film teams and family to ensure they can be here together to celebrate the launch of their stories.
The Sundance Film Festival quite literally depends on the collaboration of the host community in so many ways, and they are thrilled and grateful for the incredible warmth and hospitality Boulder has extended.
Understanding Festival Lodging
One key reason Boulder won the bid for the Sundance Film Festival was that the event happens in January when hotel occupancies in Boulder are low (see Boulder’s occupancy trends below). Welcoming the Film Festival to Boulder during this historically slow period is a boost for our city’s overall economic stability. It also created a window of time in Boulder that the reasonable lodging availability and pricing expectations for their attendees.
We are truly grateful for all the homeowners, tenants and property management partners who are willing to offer up their homes to Festival visitors. For those of you who will open your homes to visitors, your commitment to being a host with heart not only provides additional Festival lodging options, but also keeps the visitor spending local to Boulder.
Boulder’s hotels have already stepped up in an extraordinary way — making 70 percent of their room inventory available for the Sundance Film Festival at very affordable rates, an unprecedented commitment for any hotel community in the country. We have heard from people who have raised concerns about unreachable housing costs among regular Festival attendees exploring short-term rentals, as current listings suggest limited inventory and high pricing, even for “luxury” properties that can accommodate large groups. Together, this brings uncertainty for some looking to secure lodging earlier in a new place, many who are repeat visitors to the Festival.
This also holds true for commercial space, which many Festival sanctioned partners will require spaces for parties, dinners and events. This could include official sponsors, filmmaking teams, and other Festival partners.
Given the vast number of regular rentals have not come online and won’t until summer, we are hoping to help course correct, and share the waves of renting behavior and types of renters that we hope will be helpful.
Our Guests
Who will be attending the Sundance Film Festival? The Festival brings together an ecosystem of independent filmmakers, film industry pros and film lovers, in addition to a community of staff, volunteers and partners to ensure a smooth and successful experience.
Independent Festival Filmmakers in Narrative and Documentary – Many, first-time indie filmmakers, all with their crews, actors and film participants.
Festival Regulars and Industry – People who attend the Festival year after year, many of them industry members who are directly involved in the film business or are part of the independent film ecosystem:
- Film buyers and distributors (acquisition, marketing and distribution teams from companies like A24, Neon, HBO, IFC, Magnolia, Sony, Netflix, etc).
- Film sellers (teams representing films to help support sales).
- Teams from press relations, marketing and creative advertising, film festival programmers, agents and lawyers, and more.
Film lovers – Film fans from all over the world who come in to experience the discovery of new voices and new stories through independent film.
Press – Journalists and critics who attend so they can report on these new films and filmmakers.
Partners – Film companies and organizations who support Sundance Institute and are part of the independent film landscape.
Sponsors and Supporters – Companies and individuals who sponsor and support the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival.
What to Expect from Lodging “Waves”
Throughout the Festival planning cycle, there are varying trip-search and booking windows depending on the attendee type.
The first wave, which is now, includes industry members who are Festival regulars, know they will be attending and have jobs that require them to be at the Festival.
The second wave will be a steady stream throughout the summer, consisting mainly of industry members. The need for housing will increase as we move through fall and into winter as filmmakers begin learning that their film has been selected for the Festival.
The third wave is a surge that happens when the Festival program is announced and ticket selection begins in late fall. This booking window will be made up of filmmakers, industry and general audience film lovers. This will continue as a steady stream until the Festival begins.
Rates
An analysis of booking data from the past two years in Park City, Utah, and the current January market benchmarks from Airbnb and VRBO, allows us to confidently share a set of pricing guidelines for short-term home rentals. As this is new to our community, this is being shared to help homeowners make data-informed decisions about this income opportunity while also supporting a welcoming experience for Festival attendees with a wide range of housing choices.
A few things to guide you:
- If you are interested in renting out your home, condo or apartments, it’s advantageous to list your property now, as people are now looking to book. Learn more on the Rent Your Home webpage.
- Remember, although there is a large group looking to book now, people will be making their decisions to attend between now through mid-January 2027. This includes selected filmmakers whose films are invited to the Festival in late fall.
- Regulars often book the same place year after year. They get to know their homeowners and look forward to returning to a familiar place for their annual Festival experience.
- This is the start of a long-term relationship — not a one-off event — so creating a great experience is key and it can be fulfilling for all of us.
Our city has been entrusted with this cultural gem, and we know our community will nurture and support this opportunity. While there is huge excitement for the Festival’s new home, it also brings increased attention to our city. Much of that attention centers on how the Festival thrives in a new location and the experience it creates for attendees — and we are confident in our community’s ability to rise to the occasion.
We appreciate all you are doing to help the inaugural 2027 Sundance Film Festival in Boulder meet and exceed everyone’s expectations — to live up to the promise of all that it can be. And we’re here to help you too, so please keep the questions coming.
We are all learning as we go, but one thing is certain: We couldn’t do this without you!
Signed,
Charlene Hoffman, CEO, Visit Boulder
John Tayer, CEO, Boulder Chamber
Tami Door, Interim CEO, Downtown Boulder Partnership
Sarah Wood, Director, Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) serving Boulder County
