After two years of gathering online, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival is coming back in person next year. Ticket sales began on the festival’s website Monday morning.
Those looking forward to watching films inside theaters can buy in-person packages ranging from $200-$750. The festival runs January 19th-29th in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort.
New to the festival is a world cinema package. Those interested can purchase tickets to 10 in-person films for $200. Also new is a Salt Lake City pass, which for $500 gives priority access to all in-person screenings in Salt Lake. A discounted SLC pass is available for film lovers aged 18-25.
Coming back for 2023 is the locals package for Utah residents for $650, which comes with early access before single-film tickets go on sale to the public.
What won’t be a part of the 2023 film festival are a couple of well-known venues including the Salt Lake Library and the Tower in Salt Lake, as well as the MARC Theater and the Temple Har Shalom in Park City.
Betsy Wallace, Sundance Institute's managing director, says they’re excited to be back in person but not quite ready to bring back all of the theaters.
“We're really trying to focus in on is getting this festival back up and running, and we want to make it as least stressful for staff and volunteers,” said Wallace. “It does take a lot to put on the portfolio theaters that we had back in 2020. It's a big push. It is crowded, it just takes a lot.”
Something else that isn’t coming back to the 2023 film festival is the hybrid ticket. Festival-goers can either purchase in-person or online ticket packages.
The online festival happens January 24th-29th. For $300, those interested can get 10 tickets to watch films on demand.
Wallace says while the last couple of years have been difficult, the shift to an online event during the pandemic has created lasting change and opened the festival to a national audience.
“I think the best thing that happened was accessibility to films, that people around the United States could see these awesome films, hear the voices of our filmmakers, and really start that dialogue that I'm always proud of having the premieres here in Utah start,” said Wallace. “And those dialogues can go for a day, they can go for a year, they can go for a lifetime. And it's something that's really just been remarkable for us to be able to have that, that exposure for people to talk about whatever those films are talking about, and whatever those voices are. So I think that's been the best part to be quite honest.”
Online packages go on sale December 13. Individual tickets will be available on January 12.
Purchase 2023 Sundance Film Festival tickets here.
