How Boulder Businesses Can Become an Official Friend of Sundance 2027
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Colorado based businesses and nonprofits can now sign up, at no cost, to become an Official Friend of the Sundance Film Festival for the 2027 Boulder edition. The program is run jointly by the Boulder Chamber and Visit Boulder, offers a window cling, marketing toolkit, and a pair of screening tickets in exchange, and excludes certain product categories and anything that competes with Sundance’s paid sponsors. This is confirmed directly from the Boulder Chamber’s own program materials.
Last verified: September 8, 2026
What the Official Friend program actually offers
| Program detail | Status |
|---|---|
| No participation fee for eligible Colorado businesses and nonprofits | Confirmed |
| Two complimentary tickets to a private screening, first come first served | Confirmed |
| Certain categories, including fast food, tobacco, firearms, and single use plastics, are excluded | Confirmed |
| Businesses that compete with Sundance’s paid sponsor categories, such as hotels, outdoor apparel, and financial services, are not eligible | Confirmed |
| How many local businesses have signed up so far | Pending |
The program is separate from paid corporate sponsorship. It is aimed at local retailers, restaurants, collectives, community groups, and nonprofits that want to be publicly associated with the festival without paying a sponsorship fee. To qualify, a business needs a physical, ongoing operation inside Colorado. Multi brand stores in categories like alcohol, clothing, or fragrance can generally be approved, while single brand stores in those categories cannot, since Sundance reserves those categories for its exclusive sponsors.
Businesses that sign up get the right to display official signage and identify as a Friend of the festival on their storefront and their own digital channels during festival dates, a listing on the Sundance Institute’s partner pages, a digital marketing toolkit, and a chance, at the festival’s discretion, to include products in festival gift bags. In return, participants agree not to host unofficial pop up activations, not to work with competing unofficial sponsors, and to let their public programming be reviewed so it does not counter program against the festival itself.
Applying requires completing an interest form through the Boulder Chamber’s Sundance Film Festival Partner Hub, then signing a community agreement once approved, after which the business receives its digital toolkit and pickup instructions for its window cling.
Why it matters
Boulder’s business community has been vocal about wanting a share of festival spending, a theme covered in our look at how Boulder businesses are preparing for Sundance 2027. The Official Friend program is a concrete, no cost way for a business to participate formally rather than informally, and it complements the public incentive money the city and state have already committed, which we break down in what Boulder is paying to host Sundance 2027. For visitors, watching for the official window cling in a shop or restaurant window is a simple way to find businesses that are formally tied into the festival when planning where to eat or shop between screenings, alongside our broader guide to things to do around the festival.
What we’re watching
We’re watching for the Sundance Institute or Boulder Chamber to publish a public list or map of confirmed Official Friend businesses, and for whether an application deadline gets set as the December film lineup announcement approaches.
