Guide: Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival is Utah's Hollywood filmmaking event and it's always a blast. This year, Sundance takes place January 23rd – February 2, 2025 in Park City and Salt Lake City Utah. From film premieres to parties, panels and free swag, here's everything you need to know about the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

FILM

Sundance is all about the film. What's greater than storytelling? & what greater way to tell a story than film? There's US Films & World Premieres in categories from drama, documentary, midnight (horror), kids, New Frontier (technology), shorts and more! Here's the film schedule. The best place to screen a  film premiere at Sundance is The Egyptian Theater on Main Street. Here's where to get tickets.

Egyptian Theatre Main St.

MAIN STREET

The heart and soul of the festival takes place on Main Street Park City Utah. The crown jewel is the Egyptian Theater. Only second to Meredith Mark's (Real Housewives of SLC) shop. Almost every venue gets taken over by big brands, Hollywood institutions (The Hollywood Reporter) and film institutions (NYU).

NEW FRONTIER

My favorite program at the festival is the New Frontier. A fusion of film and technology on the forefront of storytelling. I've worked on 2 projects that premiered at Sundance on the New Frontier on Main, and have seen really cool projects from Xanadu to Pipolita Rist installations. I even worked on a cool video game here called 1979: The Iranian Revolution. Certain events require a special invite or tickets, but for the most part, New Frontier is free and open to the public.

Co-Op

The Co-Op is a fun place to get free schwag. Sundance Partner Brands take over the space, offering goods, games and a fun interactive brand experience. I've gotten everything from a Canada Goose beanie to water bottles and really cute souvenirs for friends and family. It's a nice place to rest your feet, and there’s always a fun photo opportunity.

There’s a Sundance booth where you can get a free Sundance water bottle and fill up with Brita filtered water. I love that they do a great job reducing plastic here.

Filmmakers Lodge

The filmmakers lodge is a nice place to warm up, get swag, and meet cool people. They have areas to grab coffee or cocoa and read trade magazines. The greatest offerings here are the industry panels. Check out the Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM). A fair amount of events require a badge, ticket or invite, but some allow you to RSVP and get in for free. I even saw Jackie Chan here once!

Hot Tip:

Bring lots of water, sunscreen, chapstick and weed. It's very dry & high in Utah.

Lodging

Hotels in Park City are never more expensive that Sundance. The best lodging is on Main Street. I personally prefer, The Olympic Village. It's always great to book an Airbnb or VRBO with friends. If you're conscious of a budget, stay in Salt Lake City. SLC has a lot of great hotels including Grand America, Little America, & Hotel Monaco.

Transportation

There's a Park City Trolley, UTA buses, trolleys, UBER and LYFT. I like to drive my own car. Driving is the safest, warmest, and best way to get to Park City. The closest parking lot is off Main St. or along the road leading up to it. Beware of the neighborhood signs. Parking lots near Main St. cost $40. There's free street parking way far away.

There's a UTA bus the transports from SLC - Park City in the morning, afternoon and evening. Once you're in Park City, there are free shuttles busses that shuttle people from venue to venue. There's also a free trolley that loops Main St. Utah's public transportation UTA Route 902 has a bus from SLC - PC on the hour between 5am-8am and night buses one the hour from PC - SLC 2:40pm - 7pm. $5-10.

Here's a map.

Ski Utah

The greatest thing about Utah is the skiing and snowboarding. There's no greater joy than riding down a mountain of whip cream. There's a lift on Main St. straight to PCMR and it's all heaven on earth. My favorite Utah ski resorts are Snowbird, Snowbasin, Solitude and Brighton.

One real unique thing to do in this area is swim The Crater. The Crater is an inactive volcano that's geothermal heat keeps it nice for swimming and scuba diving.

Here's a Sundance Festival map. Share it with a friend and enjoy the festival!

Ja!

Val Douroux