winzir Sundance Made Park City the It Town. Not Anymore.

Amid all the talk of films, fires and the state of the Oscar racewinzir, one question has dominated Sundance 2025: Where will the festival move?

Last April, the nonprofit behind Sundance, the pre-eminent festival for independent film held for the past 40 years in Park City, Utah, announced that it was exploring where else to hold the event in 2027 and beyond. The organizers then narrowed their choices to three spots: Salt Lake City, just 45 minutes away, along with a smaller presence in Park City; Boulder, Colo.; and Cincinnati. The final choice is expected to be announced in late March or early April.

Among national universities, Princeton was ranked No. 1 again, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Stanford, which tied for third last year, fell to No. 4. U.S. News again judged Williams College the best among national liberal arts colleges. Spelman College was declared the country’s top historically Black institution.

Calls for school crackdowns have mounted with reports of cyberbullying among adolescents and studies indicating that smartphones, which offer round-the-clock distraction and social media access, have hindered academic instruction and the mental health of children.

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That has left festival goers,fhm63 industry insiders and locals imagining what the change would mean for the city and the festival itself.

The organizers have said, essentially, that the event has gotten too big for Park City. When Sundance arrives every January, it balloons the ski town of 8,200 full-time residents into a snowy circus, with over 20,000 people streaming in from around the globe. Hotel prices skyrocket, the streets become clogged with black S.U.V.s, and what should be a simple five-minute ride down Main Street can turn into a 30-minute crawl, especially when it snows, as it has at this year’s festival.

The organizers have said they are looking for a new home that can house the growing festival while maintaining its roots.

ImageWhen Sundance arrives in Park City, it balloons the ski town of 8,200 full-time residents into a snowy circus, with over 20,000 people streaming in from out of state.Credit...Alex Goodlett for The New York Times

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