BOULDER, Colo. In about 10 months, the city of Boulder will be going Hollywood for the Sundance Film Festival.For more than 40 years, the festival called Utah home, first in Salt Lake City, then, in 1981, moved 40 minutes west to Park City, where it remained until 2026. In 2027, the festival will make Colorado its new home, and excitement is building."If Sundance has a great year, which is what we're trying to do, Sundance can be here for the next 42 years," said Lindsay Shaw, owner of Lindsay's Deli on Pearl Street."There's a buzz about the film festival," said Alan Katzker, owner of Boulder Rides.Overall, there's just been consistent, constant excitement from myself and the community," said Cris Jones, Boulder's director of strategic partnerships. "Everyone seems to be so excited for Sundance.As anticipation builds for Sundance's Boulder debut, people across the community are beginning to visualize their roles in the production to ensure everything goes off without a hitch.Local businesses could see the biggest win from Sundance. The 2025 festival generated a record $196.1 million in economic impact, and one person already fired up about the boost is Katzker.It's a huge deal, and since COVID, a lot of our small businesses were affected, and this is going to help revitalize the city, explained Katzker.Katzker says the ten days the festival takes place in late January couldn't come at a better time.It's very quiet in January, February, down in the Front Range and here in Boulder, said Katzker.Locking down a hotel room won't be easy. Boulder's Hiltons, Marriotts, and other chains are mostly already sold out. Luckily, you can still "cue the scene" at spots like the Bradley Boulder Inn near Pearl Street.We want it to be absolutely a perfect week for the guests coming out to Sundance, explained Innkeeper Michael Roberts.Roberts says that, despite being around for a few decades, the festival will be a great opportunity to connect with a new audience.I think when people come, they're really excited to have found the property, and they're excited to come back. So that's something we want to continue on with through Sundance in the coming years," said Roberts.No matter where festivalgoers sleep, or how they get around, they need to eat. Shaw sees Sundance as Boulder's next big-time event.It's basically CU graduation weekend10 days in a row, in terms of sales, in terms of introducing who we are, she said.Shaw is already flirting with creative ways to handle the massive crowds.What I'm going to maybe do is get some person to basically take my sandwiches as I do for grab-and-go and take 100 grab-and-go sandwiches and sell them to people on the lines because they want to see the film, they don't want to wait in line for a sandwich, she said.But it's not just about good food and long lines. The festival itself has a massive reputation and a big role in the film industry.Sean Means is the culture, food, and business editor for the Salt Lake Tribune. He's covered the festival for more than three decades, and calls Sundance the premiere film festival in the entire U.S."It is the showcase for American independent film, which is movies outside the Hollywood mainstream, explained Means.And the festival, Means says, has served as a launching pad for some of this year's biggest and brightest Oscar contenders."New filmmakers frequently get found who move on to bigger things," he said. "In the last few years, you can see Ryan Coogler got his start at Sundance with 'Fruitvale Station.' Chloe Zhao had her first movie, 'Songs My Brothers Taught Me,' here and now she's got 'Hamnet' at the Oscars.For a city of roughly 100,000 people, plus thousands of college students, Jones says Boulder is ready for Sundance.We are no strangers to working with folks who want to make big things happen in Boulder, said Jones.But there's one slight issue: when the festival takes place, as Jones says, the majority of the city's big events take place in the spring. The festival is taking place in the middle of winter.Making sure that we've got good infrastructure in place to plan for anything and everything that could happen in January, said Jones. "Both locally and regionally, to make sure that folks have multiple transportation options, that we have adequate parking resources.So while Sundance is a festival of discovery for filmmakers and actors, 2027 will also be a festival of discovery for the city of Boulder. Perhaps Boulder will become the new Hollywood, leaving its own mark on the film industry's future. ...read more read less