The Sundance Film Festival in January will again include the Main Street blacktop as part of the set.
Festival organizers on Monday indicated they want City Hall to create a pedestrian-only zone on the street a year after one debuted on the shopping, dining and entertainment strip. Sundance provided limited information about Main Street in a broader release covering logistical plans for the 2026 festival, the last that will be held in Park City before the event moves to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027.
There had been indications that Main Street could again be turned into a pedestrian zone, but the information released this week by Sundance was the most certain to date regarding the plans. The information, though, did not include operational details like which days and times of the 11-day festival are under consideration for a pedestrian zone. Those are expected to be addressed during talks between Sundance and Park City leaders in the fall, when the details of the following festival are typically finalized.
The pedestrian zone during this year’s festival was a late, but significant, alteration to the operations. City Hall, shortly before the opening of Sundance in January, announced the plans for the pedestrian zone, with the decision made in the period just after a mass killing in New Orleans by a truck driver. Officials saw the pedestrian zone as a step in preventing a similar attack during Sundance, when large crowds of film lovers, revelers and celebrity gawkers gather along Main Street well into the overnight hours.
The street became a gathering place, especially during the opening days, with people milling about or enjoying the extra space available off the sidewalks. The pedestrian zone drew large crowds at some points, but at other times the number of people was sparse. It also provided space for a demonstration in support of Palestinians toward the midpoint of Main Street during the opening weekend of Sundance, as well as an unrelated flash mob that weekend.
There was a significant law enforcement presence in the pedestrian zone, including members of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Patrol on horseback. The pedestrian zone was heavily fortified with concrete barriers and other security measures.
The Main Street businesses will closely watch the discussions about the plans for the street during Sundance. A pedestrian zone like the one in 2025, and the one that will eventually be considered for next year, has wide impacts on traffic flow in the Main Street core and also changes the pedestrian flow by allowing people to move to the asphalt rather than remaining on the sidewalks, where they are closer to the entrances to businesses.
The Historic Park City Alliance, which represents the interests of businesses in the Main Street core, said early in the week it had not held conversations between members about the prospects of creating a pedestrian zone during Sundance in 2026.
Ginger Wicks, the executive director of the organization, said the group supports the public safety reasoning behind the pedestrian zone in 2025, but it was created quickly after the incident in New Orleans. She said the Historic Park City Alliance wants to start considering plans for Main Street for the 2026 festival in the coming weeks.
She said details that need to be considered include the precise location of a pedestrian zone, explaining that, perhaps, the Brew Pub lot could be considered as a drop-off point for drivers. That, she said, could generate business toward the southern end of Main Street. Wicks also said there was confusion in 2025 regarding permitting for Swede Alley vehicle access that Main Street businesses would want addressed in 2026.
Wicks said the pedestrian zone in 2025 may have impacted sales along Main Street.
“Everybody hung out in the middle of the street and didn’t go into the businesses,” she said.