The 2023 festival will run January 19-29 – and plane tickets aren’t required. Festival director Tabitha Jackson said in an announcement Tuesday that two years of honing digital programs – and gauging interest in online participation - had enabled a successful hybrid program that will continue next year.
The hybrid plans include live showings in Park City and Salt Lake City as well as an online program.
The iconic festival has been online for the past two years, since the COVID pandemic.
COVID hit the United States in March of 2020 – and hit Park City particular hard as festival-goers from around the world had traveled to town to pack into theaters, restaurants and bars. Park City was briefly the epicenter of COVID cases that spring.
The Sundance Institute’s announcement did not address whether the hybrid model will be a permanent change.
Fewer in-person events will reduce traffic, congestion and other headaches associated with tourism during Park City’s busy winter season. But it will also have an economic impact as business is reduced in hotels and across the hospitality industry.
This is a developing story and KPCW will update with new information as it becomes available.