The History of Sundance Film Festival
Sundance began in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival in Salt Lake City, moved to Park City in 1981, came under Sundance Institute management soon after, and took its current name in 1991. It grew into the leading showcase for American independent film before Sundance Institute’s board voted in 2025 to relocate the festival to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027.
How it started
The festival traces back to August 1978, when it launched in Salt Lake City as the Utah/US Film Festival. It was founded by Robert Redford together with Sterling Van Wagenen, then head of Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises, and John Earle and Cirina Hampton Catania of the Utah Film Commission. The original goal was modest: draw more filmmakers and film productions to Utah. Van Wagenen left soon after to run the first Sundance Institute program, and Catania took over as director, building the sponsorships and advertising support that made the event financially viable.
The move to Park City and the Sundance name
In 1981 the festival relocated from Salt Lake City to the ski resort town of Park City and shifted from a September date to January, a change aimed at drawing more attention from the Hollywood industry during a quieter time on the calendar. It was renamed the US Film and Video Festival at that point. Sundance Institute, the nonprofit Redford had founded to support independent filmmakers, took over management of the festival in the mid-1980s. In 1991 it was given the name it carries today, Sundance Film Festival, after Redford’s Utah property and his character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Becoming the top U.S. independent film festival
Through the 1990s, under directors Geoffrey Gilmore and later John Cooper, Sundance grew into what’s widely described as the premier independent film festival in the United States, spoken of in the same breath as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto. It developed a reputation for launching the careers of American independent filmmakers, including the Coen brothers, Steven Soderbergh, and Quentin Tarantino, whose early films premiered there. In 2010 the festival added its NEXT category, spotlighting innovative work made outside traditional budget constraints. In recent years Sundance has screened roughly 90 films over its ten-day run and drawn about 85,000 attendees annually, split between industry professionals and the public.
Why it’s leaving Park City
On March 27, 2025, Sundance Institute’s board finalized a ten-year agreement to move the festival’s public event to Boulder, Colorado, beginning with the 2027 edition. Sundance Institute’s labs and year-round programs remain based in Utah; it’s the festival itself that’s relocating. For the full breakdown of what drove that decision and what it does and doesn’t mean, see our guide to why Sundance is moving to Boulder.
What this doesn’t cover
This page is background on the festival’s history, not trip planning. For the confirmed 2027 dates and venues, see our dates and location guide. For everything else about attending the first Boulder edition, start at our 2027 Boulder guide.