It seemed almost certain it would take a package of inducements worth millions of dollars for a community to land the Sundance Film Festival.
Media coverage this week in Minnesota highlights another place attempting to lure the festival with a seven-digit or even an eight-digit financial package.
The Star Tribune in Minneapolis indicated a host committee there is readying a financial package that is valued at around $2 million each year. The host committee includes politicians and corporate figures from firms like Target and Best Buy, the newspaper reported.
Information about the financial packages offered by places seeking to host the festival has slowly been publicized in media across the country, as governments in the various places debate the numbers.
The interest by Minneapolis in hosting Sundance has been known since the spring, and the city advanced to another stage in the selection process. A Minneapolis City Council committee in April authorized staffers to respond to a Sundance call for places to signal their interest in becoming the festival host.
The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, at that time noted the city has “a world-class arts and entertainment community, and a well-earned reputation for successfully hosting major events.” The effort also includes Meet Minneapolis and Film North.
Minneapolis joins other cities in moving through the current round of the selection process. They include Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta. Officials in those two places have offered seven-figure incentive packages, should the festival relocate. Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Nashville, Tennessee, are also under consideration, according to recent media coverage.
Even as information trickles out elsewhere, little is known about the Park City effort to retain Sundance, the most lucrative event on the community’s calendar. City Hall has declined to discuss details of the bid for Sundance, though it seems almost certain the effort involves other jurisdictions alongside Park City. The dollar figures involved, how a package of inducements would be funded, and the logistical concept for the festival if it remains in the community are not known.
It is not clear when Park City may publicize details of the bid and whether they would ever be released if Sundance selects another community as the festival host. The details of a package of inducements would need to be made public if they are put to the Park City Council or another body of elected officials for a vote, though. That may not occur until a final step.
Park City and Sundance have an agreement that covers festivals through 2026. The festivals in 2025 and 2026 are scheduled to be staged as normal. Any relocation of Sundance, or a reimagining of the festival in and around Park City, would begin with the event in 2027.
Sundance is one of the top marketplaces of independent films on the international circuit and it brings some of the largest crowds of the year to Park City. The lodging, restaurant and transportation sectors typically enjoy some of their best numbers annually during Sundance.