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Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees of the Sundance Film Festival are making their final push to keep the world-renowned independent film festival in the state as its directors consider uprooting it.

Sundance is amid a process to decide a new location after a contract with City Hall to hold the festival largely in Park City expires. The selection process has been one of the overriding themes of the chatter throughout Sundance.

Park City and Salt Lake City are continuing to guard many of the details of the bid to retain the Sundance Film Festival in the state. But the governor of Utah and the leader of the Park City Chamber/Bureau have recently entered the scene with limited information.

After holding the event for 40 years in the Utah ski town, organizers plan to take it elsewhere starting in 2027.

As Sundance Film Festival organizers consider leaving for Colorado or Ohio, Utah’s governor is making a final financial push to keep the annual event in its longtime home.

Sundance takes place every January, turning the "ski town of 8,200 full-time residents into a snowy circus, with over 20,000 people streaming in from around the globe," said the Times. When this happens,

As Sundance considers moving out of Utah, the indie film community weighs how much of its identity is rooted in Park City.

EXCLUSIVE: No final decision has been made on if the Sundance Film Festival will stay in Utah or move to either Boulder or Cincinnati in 2027, but for attendees of the 2025 gathering a big change on Park City's Main Street has received a full thumbs-up so far.

Bowen Yang, the “Wicked” actor and “Saturday Night Live” comedian, said he's in favor of having the Sundance Film Festival move to Salt Lake City, with some events remaining in Park City, rather than leave Utah entirely.

The City of Cincinnati put $2.5 million upfront to secure a deal, with at least $2.5 million more promised if the Queen City is selected as the host. The council estimated that Sundance coming to Cincinnati would be an investment for the future that would potentially bring in at least $120 million per year for a decade.

Cincinnati is one of three finalists vying to host the Sundance Film Festival, competing against Boulder, Colorado, and a joint bid from Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, which aims to retain the festival in the Beehive State.