How Big Will Sundance 2027 Actually Be? Attendance and Economic Impact, By the Numbers
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The City of Boulder’s own Sundance FAQ page puts average festival attendance at about 86,000 people, with a pre-pandemic peak near 125,000, and estimates roughly a third of attendees traveling from out of state. The same page cites Utah’s 2025 festival generating $196.1 million in economic activity and about 2,697 jobs, and references a state projection of roughly $2 billion in economic impact for Colorado over the festival’s first 10 years. That 10-year figure is a forward-looking estimate attributed to Governor Jared Polis, not an audited result, so it is worth reading as a projection rather than a guarantee.
Last verified: September 10, 2026
The numbers, straight from the city’s FAQ page
| Figure | Status |
|---|---|
| Average historical Sundance attendance: about 86,000 | Confirmed |
| Pre-pandemic peak attendance: about 125,000 | Confirmed |
| Share of attendees from out of state: about one-third | Confirmed |
| Estimated peak lodging demand: about 30,000 out-of-town visitors at once | Confirmed |
| Utah’s 2025 festival: $196.1 million in economic activity, $21.1 million in tax revenue, about 2,697 jobs | Confirmed |
| Boulder’s arts and culture sector generated $115.1 million in annual economic activity in 2022 | Confirmed |
| Colorado’s projected 10-year economic impact from hosting Sundance: about $2 billion, a figure attributed to Governor Jared Polis | Reported, not yet confirmed |
These figures come from the City of Boulder’s official Sundance Film Festival frequently asked questions page, which was published to help residents and visitors understand the scale of what is coming to town. For a first-time festival attendee, the attendance range matters more than it might seem: a swing between 86,000 and 125,000 visitors changes how crowded venues, sidewalks, restaurants, and parking will feel across an 11-day run, and it is a big part of why the city has been so focused on getting people out of cars and onto transit, bikes, and foot.
The economic figures serve a different purpose. Utah’s 2025 numbers, the festival’s final year in Park City, give the closest real-world comparison available for what a similarly sized event can generate. Colorado’s $2 billion, 10-year figure is bigger and more speculative, since it is a projection tied to the state’s broader push to grow its film industry rather than a number anyone can verify yet. Both are useful context, but they answer different questions: one describes what already happened elsewhere, the other describes what officials hope will happen here.
The FAQ page also confirms who is coordinating safety planning for a crowd this size: Boulder Police, Boulder Fire-Rescue, CU Boulder Police, Colorado State Patrol, and the city’s Office of Disaster Management are named as the agencies working together on the festival’s public safety plan.
Why it matters
The scale here is the backdrop for almost every other planning decision covered on this site. It is the reason behind what Boulder is paying to host the festival in the first place, and it explains why the math on Boulder’s roughly 2,900 hotel rooms against tens of thousands of visitors has been such a persistent theme in local coverage. For broader context on how the festival got here, the site’s history of the Sundance Film Festival page is a useful companion read.
What we’re watching
We’re watching for the city or Sundance Institute to publish more granular projections closer to January, including any updated attendance estimate specific to a first-year Boulder edition rather than historical Park City averages, and for independent economic analysis of the $2 billion 10-year projection.
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