Members of our Community Editorial Board, a group of community residents who are engaged with and passionate about local issues, respond to the following question: Colorado film boosters recently announced a plan to attempt to lure the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival to Boulder in 2027. Your take? While other cities like Atlanta and Minneapolis are among the places bidding for the Sundance Film Festival’s new home beginning in 2027, I hope that Boulder will earn the bid. For film festival enthusiasts, the 50-year success of the Telluride Film Festival has shown that small Colorado mountain towns can host great entertainment showcases.
Also, the 20-year success of the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) has demonstrated an appetite for these festivities in the Boulder community. Sundance and BIFF can build on one another, integrate lessons learned and engage meaningfully with local Boulder creatives. While Boulder is deservedly seen as a base camp for nearby mountain activities, our community offers an appealing January destination for these entertainment and cultural endeavors among our residents and visitors.
Further partnerships with CU can bring energy, talents and insights from students, staff and faculty and it can help to amplify interdisciplinary and integrative as well as humanities-centered pursuits from campus. The influx of visitors would bolster the local economy while bringing new jobs to the Boulder community. Certainly, if Boulder were to earn th.
