On the first Friday of the last Sundance in Park City, Park Meadows resident Rick Smith was at Library Field with his dogs Smokey and Bandit “trying to keep things as normal as possible.”
Park City Library across the way had transformed, bustling with Sundance Film Festival visitors and volunteers once more. Next year, the event moves to Boulder, Colorado.
“I'm happy to see it go, really,” Smith said. “The locals don't enjoy the traffic. It's not good for a lot of the locals. It's good for me — it's great for me — but it's not all about me.”
Smith, who owns Main Street Pizza & Noodle, has lived in Park City for more than three decades — as long as the Park City Library has been a Sundance venue. He said he’s enjoyed the movies and parties over the years but didn’t get any tickets this time.
Inside the library, the 2026 Documentary Short Film Program was premiering. Park City Film was selling concessions: Sundance is the nonprofit’s largest annual fundraiser, according to Executive Director Katy Wang.
“In Park City, Utah, you are not generally bumping into the former Prime Minister of New Zealand or a Nobel laureate, right?” she told KPCW. “Maybe the celebrities, in a ski town, but certainly not these deep thinkers, people that are leading the world in really exciting directions. That I will miss.”
Going forward, Park City Film will make the library its year-round home. It expanded its lease last year to add 70 more screenings at the Jim Santy Auditorium.
“We're certainly in the arts world trying to replace that as best we can,” Wang said. “If we don't step up, it will not happen.”
Before the Sundance Institute announced its flagship festival was moving to Colorado last March, Park City and Summit County’s arts leaders were already thinking about the future.
They produced a 124-page arts and culture master plan earlier this month, which both the city and county councils voted to adopt.
The plan’s architects say it’s intentionally not “prescriptive,” instead meant to gather data and tools together so elected officials know which levers they can pull.
The plan says that, in 2023, Sundance contributed an additional $126 million in visitor spending to the area.
Local artist Anna Nizhoni vouched for the master plan at the Park City Council meeting Jan. 8, calling the arts “vital” to the local economy, community and identity.
“With Sundance Film Festival’s departure and the Olympics’ arrival on the horizon — also in the wake of a serious lack of snowfall — I believe we must position ourselves not only as a world class destination for outdoor recreation, but also for arts and culture,” she said.
Park City-area elected leaders have renewed calls to diversify the economy amid one of Utah’s worst snow years on record.
Snyderville Basin wastewater tests showed there were 6% fewer people in town during December 2025 compared to 2024. The city hasn’t published sales tax revenue data yet.
Back at the library, Smith said his restaurant usually makes an extra $125,000 or $150,000 each Sundance. He doesn’t expect anything else could replace that level of revenue.
“I think it should just be skiing. I think people should be skiing here in the winter. That's what it's all about: winter sports,” he said, before laughing. “If we would just have a winter.”
