Renting Out Your Home for Sundance 2027: How Boulder’s Festival Lodging Rental License Works
QUICK ANSWER
Yes. Since April 2026, Boulder homeowners, and tenants with their landlord’s written consent, can apply for a Festival Lodging Rental License to rent a home or spare bedroom for up to 29 days a year during an approved Special Festival Event. Right now the 2027 Sundance Film Festival (January 21 to 31, 2027) is the only approved event, so the rental window runs roughly 10 days before the festival through 9 days after it. This is a city licensing program, separate from any Airbnb or Sundance-run lodging platform.
Last verified: August 26, 2026
What’s confirmed
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| City ordinance allowing tenant subleasing, approved unanimously | Confirmed, April 2026 |
| Maximum 29 rental days per year, per license | Confirmed |
| New owner license: $190 application plus $25 business license fee, valid 4 years | Confirmed |
| Existing Long-Term Rental License holders: $75 application plus $25 business license fee, valid 1 year | Confirmed |
| Tenant sublease license fee | Confirmed, $75 |
| Revenue split between tenant and landlord | Not set by the city, negotiated privately |
Applicants need a safety affidavit, must meet the city’s occupancy standards, and must have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Applications are accepted year round, take two to six weeks to process, and the city recommends allowing up to six months to prepare and list a property. Owners cannot advertise a rental until the license is issued.
Why the city opened this up
Boulder has roughly 2,900 hotel rooms, according to Boulder Reporting Lab’s coverage of the city’s Sundance planning, against a festival expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors over 11 days. The rental license, and the April 2026 expansion that let renters sublease with permission, are direct responses to that gap. It sits alongside other lodging pushes we have covered, including Airbnb’s $200 host bonus for Sundance 2027 and the official lodging platform now listing 460+ Boulder-area properties.
Why it matters if you’re visiting, not hosting
More licensed rentals means more inventory competing with hotels, which should help with availability, though it will not necessarily help with price during the festival’s busiest nights. If you are still comparing lodging options, our where to stay guide covers hotels directly, and our Denver commute guide covers the tradeoffs of staying outside Boulder entirely.
What we’re watching
We’ll update this post if the city publishes how many Festival Lodging Rental Licenses have actually been issued, since that number would tell visitors far more about real availability than the licensing rules alone. If you want the bigger lodging-math picture, see our companion post on what Boulder’s hotel room count means for your trip.
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