Sundance Film Festival attendees could spend $1,000-plus a night on a hotel room, then drop hundreds of dollars on meals before hiring a shuttle, for hundreds of more dollars, to get them to a screening or a party and then back to a hotel.
As Sundance returns for the first in-person event since the 2020 festival closed just weeks before the novel coronavirus pandemic turned devastating, one of the key questions, particularly in the Park City business community, centers on whether the 11 days will be as lucrative as the festivals in the past.
Sundance traditionally was a favorable time for those working in industries such as lodging, restaurant and transportation. The film industry paid some of the top rates of the year for accommodations while restaurants were either packed or rented for private functions celebrating film premieres or other sorts of receptions. And taxis and shuttles were in high demand well into the overnight hours.
Individual businesses typically do not release detailed numbers, but it is widely believed that the opening days of Sundance were some of the top days of the year for sales at certain places. Lines out the door and onto the sidewalk were commonplace at establishments that sell food or drinks on Main Street.
The festival this year, though, opens at a unique moment. Concerns about the coronavirus could dampen some of the economic activity if the crowds are not as large as they once were. There is also fear about the possibility of a recession, something that could influence spending during Sundance. But the Park City tourism industry has shown extraordinary resilience since the early months of the pandemic, and perhaps that will continue with studio expense accounts and wallets of individual festivalgoers.
The economic impact of the festival is statewide, but Park City and surrounding Summit County normally enjoy, by a wide margin, the largest windfall from Sundance. And although the Main Street streetscape is altered during the festival with the arrival of temporary corporate installations, the shopping, dining and entertainment strip retains its destination status throughout Sundance.
“I think that, overall, the street is excited to have it back,” Ginger Wicks, the executive director of the Historic Park City Alliance, said in an interview on the eve of the opening of Sundance.
Wicks said businesses staffed up for Sundance if they were able to hire additional workers. There have been rumblings about the difficulties of finding and retaining employees in the Park City area during the economic comeback from the pandemic shutdowns of 2020. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Summit County in November, the most recent available, was 2.2%, highlighting the tight labor market.
The Historic Park City Alliance represents businesses in the Main Street core and is an influential player in economic discussions, as well as talks involving City Hall policies regarding traffic flow in Old Town and parking. The group normally is heavily involved in the discussions about festival logistics and then the annual review of Sundance operations as City Hall and festival organizers prepare for the following year’s event.
The business group, though, is notoriously fractured, and Sundance has long been an event that has drawn a range of opinions from Main Street. Restaurants may be jammed with high-spending customers even as a shop next door could be patiently awaiting the end of Sundance and the return of the skiing crowds. Some businesses instead opt to rent their space to corporate interests that arrive on Main Street temporarily for the publicity that can be generated during Sundance.
“I think everybody is hopeful that numbers will be up. It’s too early to tell,” Wicks said.
The festival runs through Jan. 29. The economic activity typically peaks during the opening weekend. Some of the temporary corporate installations are dismantled by the middle of the week, allowing for the reopening of the year-round businesses. Hotel rates normally drop and the number of taxis and shuttles available falls after the opening days.
There have been hints recently that Park City could be busy during Sundance, including in an important lodging projection that showed occupancy falling from the 2020 and 2019 numbers in January but not cratering when put against the numbers from the most recent in-person festivals. Festival organizers in late 2022 said they were preparing for Sundance to possibly be as large as it was in 2020.