The Sundance Film Festival is coming to Boulder starting January 2027, bringing an 11-day festival to the region for at least a decade. So what does this mean for the region? Between 2018 and 2025, Sundance has attracted between 72,000-125,000 people annually. And in the past 2 years alone, the festival generated $332M for Utah’s economy. 

Whether this is the most exciting thing to you or something that isn’t even on your radar, there are many challenges that Longmont should actively plan for so we don’t let Sundance ‘happen’ to Longmont. No matter how you feel about Sundance, Longmont needs to actively prepare so the festival doesn’t just ‘happen’ to us. Instead, let’s proactively embrace the opportunities this presents for Longmont and leave visitors with a positive memory of Longmont’s growing restaurant scene and outdoor access so they keep coming back for the sequel. Our hotels, businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, and Visit Longmont are already planning for Sundance. The city and the community can and should work together to ensure Sundance is a net benefit for us all—from transportation and short-term rentals to enhancing the local experience and public safety.

Transportation

First, both in-state and out-of-state visitors will need to move around. This could bring tens of thousands of vehicles over 3 weeks—unless there are convenient, accessible, and comfortable alternatives. We need a seamless system of options. First, we need to work with RTD and/or Via (RIDE Longmont) to establish a bus to and from Denver International Airport that gets people to the heart of Longmont without needing a car. Then, we need to make it easy to get around Longmont without a car by increasing RIDE Longmont capacity or with the forthcoming bikeshare and to other key destinations like Boulder, Eldora, and Estes Park. All of these need to be convenient with a virtual “Sundance Guest Pass”. 

Short-Term Rentals

Second, Longmont has been understandably reluctant to enable more flexibility for short-term rentals, but Sundance will bring an influx of visitors, many of whom will be looking for flexible accommodations. We should revisit our licensing process and current restrictions—even if just for January to February, and whether there are opportunities to capture additional revenue to invest in our infrastructure, public safety, roads, and parks. Perhaps we could have LoCo BnB instead of having service fees go to Airbnb?

Local Experience

Third, we can enhance the local experience. Some visitors will be coming from the Front Range, so this is a prime time to showcase our small businesses and independent restaurants. Imagine a ‘Winter ArtWalk’ and temporarily close Main Street for an evening or weekend to encourage window shopping and eating downtown. Other visitors will fly in—Park City’s nearby airport (HCR) saw approximately a 25% increase in flight traffic during Sundance. Modernizing Vance Brand Airport will enhance the quality of our aerial gateway and make Longmont even more welcoming. And Sundance is a perfect catalyst to help us finally invest in public signs and placemaking along our greenways, parks, and commercial areas to guide visitors around town and to key destinations—ultimately helping people and businesses throughout the year. 

Emergency Planning

Lastly, we need to prepare for the worst. January is the driest month in the Denver area, and the Marshall Fire forced over 37,000 people to evacuate less than 4 years ago. If even a small fire breaks out during Sundance, we need to be prepared for people who don’t know the roads, alert systems, and services available. This is yet another reason to work with our Boulder County partners to accelerate the revamp of the Boulder County Fairgrounds, which already doubles as an event center and a shelter for regional fire evacuations. This will also occur in the middle of flu season, so we should ensure easily available hand sanitizer, clean public restrooms, and other medical resources to keep all of us healthier. 

The Cost of Inaction

There will be a cost to some of these proactive efforts, but more visitors also means more user fees, local spending, and sales and lodging taxes revenue. But what’s the cost of not doing this? Unmanaged traffic if we don’t have effective transit; lodging revenue that skips over Longmont; businesses that miss out on new customers; and chaos in our community during emergencies. In short, proactive, innovative public-private collaboration is absolutely needed here. Preparing now won’t just help visitors—they’ll reduce daily disruption for all of us and bring new investment into our community.

Next Steps

The first thing I will do after Longmont finalizes our budget will be to kickstart a new coordinated City-Community Sundance Task Force to complement Visit Longmont’s efforts. Ultimately, Longmont must ensure local infrastructure and services are not only up for the challenge but ready to reduce daily impacts to residents and capture the moment to invest in Longmont for residents, families, and businesses beyond the festival. 

We should start planning now—because guests are already making their plans.