Local businesses depend on the Sundance Film Festival to stay in Utah
Sep 12, 2024, 5:15 PM | Updated: 7:32 pm
PARK CITY — It was only a couple of years ago when Andrea Zavala opened up her shop, Lola Eclectic Market, on Park City’s Main Street.
Selling hand-crafted items from her home country of Ecuador has been a success.
“This is a passion,” Zavala said. “I don’t consider this a job. I just love being in here and talking to people.”
Some of her biggest sales happen when the Sundance Film Festival is in town.
Last year, all her products sold.
“People loved it,” she said. “They took everything that I had in the shop. All the sweaters.”
So, she was upset a few months ago when she heard the Sundance Film Festival was looking for another host city. However, she was really excited this morning when she read the festival just might stay here.
“It is important. It’s a lot of revenue, a lot of sales,” she said.
Salt Lake City and Park City, along with Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, were chosen by the Sundance Film Festival as the three finalists to host future festivals starting in 2027.
SLC/Park City named as 1 of 3 finalists to host future Sundance Film Festival
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said not only did Sundance start in Utah, but after 40 years, she feels it’s the only place that makes sense.
“We are so thrilled. The place for Sundance is the State of Utah,” Mayor Mendenhall said. She also believed the very thing Sundance is looking for in a new partnership is what Salt Lake City can provide.
“What we are offering is a new friendship. A new friendship between Salt Lake City and Sundance that hasn’t quite existed in the past,” she said.
Those in charge of the festival put on a nationwide search, saying they looked at things like infrastructure, equity values, and ways for the city to continue fostering the diverse Sundance community and inspire the next generation of independent filmmakers.
According to Y2 Analytics, which is a data science company, Sundance brought in nearly $118 million to Utah’s gross domestic product in 2023, accounting for wages, tax revenue, and out-of-state visitor spending. Mendenhall would like that money to stay here.
“It’s a big deal for the state of Utah, a lot of returns at the local level. Local businesses see and feel that economic impact,” she said.
Park City is part of the Salt Lake City plan. It is one Zavala hopes is good enough to keep the festival here.
“It’s our most important time of the year, and we really hope it stays,” Zavala said.
A final decision is expected in late winter or early spring 2025. There are still two years on Sundance’s contract with Park City.
