Gov. Cox alludes to ‘bigger’ event in the works as Sundance Film Festival heads to Colorado

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Nearly one month ago, the Sundance Film Festival announced it would be leaving its home state of Utah, trading Park City for Boulder, Colorado, on the other side of the Rocky Mountains.

But during his monthly press conference on Thursday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox alluded that something bigger and better may be in the works to replace it.

Cox told reporters that since the Sundance Film Festival announced it would be leaving the Beehive State, his phone “hasn’t stopped ringing” with people within the entertainment industry who want to do something that would help replace Sundance.

“It’s been amazing – the repercussions of Sundance leaving,” Gov. Cox told reporters. “It’s been the best thing that could happen, that the number of people in lots of different industries – in arts and entertainment – who are interested in doing something bigger here and better than Sundance is just off the charts.”

As for what this “bigger and better” event could be, Gov. Cox said Utahns will just have to wait and see, mainly because even he is not sure what this new event would look like. He said the vacancy left by Sundance simply provides a new opportunity to put something together.

Cox said over the next few months, his office will be bringing those people who have ideas about what to do together. He said building a new event to replace the beloved film festival would take a lot of work, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of having something in place by 2027, when Sundance officially makes the jump to Colorado.

He even alluded to the possibility of having an event in place by 2026.

“It is one of the things that we’re really good at here in Utah – is bringing people together, putting a plan in place and executing,” Cox said. “It surely could be done by next year, and I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t have something in place by 2027.

“Whatever we do, it will be bigger,” he concluded.