The Park City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a special event permit and supplemental plan for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival that includes changes from last year’s event and an increase in the budget for municipal services and contributions. The operational plan also sets up a pedes trian zone on Main Street again during the first five days of the festival, a safety measure that was implemented last year after a mass killing by a truck driver in New Orleans.  Sundance is slated to run in Park City and Salt Lake City from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1, and online programming will be offered Jan. 29 to Feb 1. Next year is the last time Sundance will be held in Utah — the festival is moving to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, ending a more than 40-year run. Municipal code requires the City Council to review and approve Level Five Special Event Permit requests that include material changes from previous applications. A Level Five is a large event that has an attendance above 5,000 people, causes moderate to severe impacts to surrounding areas, has moderate to severe transportation needs and requires public safety staffing beyond normal operations. The plan estimates overall festival attendance at 70,000 people, with 9,000 people in Park City at any one time and 1,700 volunteers throughout the event. “Due to the size and scope of the event, a large, coordinated effort occurs between every City Department, Sundance Institute, and many community stakeholders to both support opportunities and mitigate challenges during the event,” a city report says. The municipality’s approved budget for the 2026 festival is $1,378,149, approximately 5% more than the $1,310.968 budget for 2025. The estimated change is due to increased public safety hours and security equipment.  The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Park City — The Yarrow is a new screening venue for the festival. The Egyptian Theater will not be a screening venue. The festival will hold a one-day panel discussion there.  The Eccles, Four Holiday Cinemas, Park City Library, The Ray and three Redstone theaters in Kimball Junction in Summit County are among the official festival venues. Changes to official sponsors are the addition of Ketel One and Sundance Now. Sponsors that were removed are Darling Co., Vimeo, The Walt Disney Company, Vibe and Wrap. City-owned public property being used in 2026 for official sponsor venues includes the Bob Wells Plaza, where the Acura House of Energy at Festival Village activation will return. The focus is on electric vehicle offerings and an EV fleet used as a VIP shuttle during the festival aligns with Park City’s sustainability goals, the report says.  Hulu on Disney Plus and Fox Searchlight will be in the Galleria parking lot with a “Little Miss Sunshine” activation and giveaways. A privately-owned official sponsor venue will be Chase Sapphire Reserved for Business activation at 625 Main St. Park City has been working with the Historic Main Street Alliance and Sundance to add programming to the Main Street area during the pedestrian-only times, the report says. The municipality is also offering activations to sponsors, Main Street merchants and community partners.  The report says Sundance is committed to improving experiences for audiences and artists of all abilities and uses only ADA-compliant venues. The film festival’s practice is to provide one open caption screening per film during the event; closed captioning for all non-open caption screenings and audio description whenever possible; and sign language interpretation for any event upon reasonable request. “Sundance considers inclusion and accessibility the drivers of institutional excellence and aims for our programs and platforms to reflect these core values at every level,” the report says. Much of the plan is similar to the 2025 operations. Main Street will be pedestrian-only from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Jan. 22-26 from Swede Alley to 7th Street. That stretch of street will reopen for deliveries, trash collection and snow removal from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily. Parking rates will be flat fees of $40 on Jan. 22; $50 on Jan. 23 and 24; and $30 on Jan. 25, 26 and 27. Regular peak parking rates will be in effect Jan. 28 to Feb. 1. Park City Transit plans to provide increased service between Richardson Flat and Old Town from 6:15 a.m. to 2:05 p.m. with 20-minute frequencies from Jan. 22 through Jan. 31. The schedule will help employees who work downtown to get to and from Main Street, according to Chris Phinney, Park City’s special events manager. Sundance will provide two additional transit routes within Park City with 10- to 20-minute frequencies. The community will be informed about the festival operations through an extensive program that includes door-to-door outreach scheduled from Dec. 15 to Jan. 9 and a guide in both English and Spanish.  At least 85,472 people attended the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City and redeemed 130,710 tickets, a report about the economic impact of the event says. The report says Sundance Institute also directly contributed to the Utah economy via the costs of planning and producing the event.  In total, the festival’s contribution to the state’s economy this year was $196.1 million in gross domestic product, 2,697 jobs for residents, $103.3 million in Utah wages and $21.1 million in state and local tax revenue. The post Park City Council OK’s operation plan for Sundance Film Festival  appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less