Overview:
As Sundance prepares for its Boulder debut, visitors and homeowners are navigating high prices, limited rooms and a new rental license.
Ryan Roylance has been to the Sundance Film Festival 23 times, so he knows the annual scramble for lodging is part of the experience. But as the festival prepares to move from Park City, Utah, to Boulder in 2027, his search for a place to stay has felt different.
The Chicago resident, who is originally from Park City, said he began looking for Boulder accommodations soon after the last festival ended, expecting more rentals to appear as homeowners prepared for Sundance’s Colorado debut.
“I believed there would be an uptick in listings directly after the last festival, but I haven’t experienced that,” Roylance said. “The inventory is the first thing I noticed. It’s very hard to find something available, especially close to the venues.”
For a longtime attendee, the search has revealed one of Boulder’s biggest first-year challenges: where thousands of festivalgoers will stay when Sundance arrives Jan. 21-31, 2027.
Boulder City Council first approved a Festival Lodging Rental License in October 2025, allowing homeowners to rent out their homes for less than a month during major city-approved festivals. In April 2026, council approved updates that expanded the program to include tenants with property-owner consent and owners of certain long-term rental properties.
According to the city, the goal of the license was to support the local economy by creating lodging opportunities for people in town, reducing traffic and impacts on residents, and reducing the carbon footprint by encouraging less commuting from outside the city.
The license is meant to increase lodging supply, but it has also revealed how uncertain Boulder’s first Sundance rental market remains.
The Rental Housing Licensing Department of the City of Boulder’s Planning and Development Services has seen a high volume of interest from residents seeking rental licenses.
According to a brief statement from the Rental Housing Licensing Department, as of July 31, 1,269 short-term and festival lodging rental licenses had been issued to residents, with 883 applications still being processed. The department said it was running up to four weeks behind in processing all license types because of the volume.
With Boulder preparing for tens of thousands of festivalgoers and limited lodging near venues, property managers and vacation-rental companies are trying to help homeowners navigate a market that does not yet have a clear baseline.
Tony Starkovich, operations lead for business development at SkyRun Vacation Rentals, said the company is trying to make the process easier for residents who have never rented out their homes before.
“We offer a turnkey approach where it’s completely hands off,” Starkovich said. “The owner gives us the keys and permission to manage their property, and the rest is completely off them.”
While this style of home rental has drawn interest because of its ease, companies like SkyRun have had difficulty getting locals to commit to renting out their homes.
“I have seen a lot of interest but zero commitment,” Starkovich said.
He said many residents have high expectations of the money they could make renting during Sundance, but the reality may be lower than they expect. Because 2027 will be the first Sundance in Boulder, there is no average rental price for festival lodging yet, and Starkovich suggested there will not be one until the festival has been in Boulder for at least a year.
Starkovich said the prices he has seen on online travel agency sites like Airbnb and Vrbo are four times higher than what homes are expected to rent for during the festival.
“Right now, I think most guests are being priced out of any current rates that are being set,” Starkovich said, “and a lot of people are holding firm till the time of the event.”
To ease this confusion, Visit Boulder has released a lodging guide with suggested price ranges for different types of homes and locations.
Based on the guide, a condo or home with two bedrooms can be expected to rent for about $500 to $700 a night, depending on the quality of the property. The guide also says homes within a 10-minute walk of the core footprint of the festival may add 10% to their initial value due to proximity. Two-bedroom homes could reach roughly $7,500 for an 11-day stay during the festival, depending on nightly rate, fees and location.
Starkovich expects some homeowners and property managers may hold out for higher prices until the festival gets closer, while visitors wait to see whether more inventory appears.
“It doesn’t look like Sundance is going to want to come back due to their massive amount of guests having nowhere to stay,” said Starkovich when asked how he feels this festival will go. He feels the residents expecting these high prices are going to negatively impact the experience by pricing guests out of the city.
That matters because lodging is tied to several of Boulder’s goals for the festival. City officials created the festival lodging license in part to keep visitors closer to venues, reduce commuting and help more festival spending happen inside Boulder. If visitors stay farther away, those benefits could be harder to realize.
“The places that are for rent in Boulder are still significantly more expensive than what I was used to seeing in Park City,” Roylance said. “It feels like the quality of place is low, too.”
Sundance spent decades in Utah, giving Park City and surrounding communities years to understand where people wanted to stay, what visitors were willing to pay and how festival traffic moved through the region. Boulder is still learning those patterns.
When asked how Boulder’s first Sundance might compare with previous festivals, Roylance said he expects the festival itself to work, even if lodging remains difficult.
“I would be shocked if the festival didn’t do a good job,” Roylance said. “But there will be hiccups in year one, working in a new city with new people. So if I were to guess, it will be a slight step down this year from previous, but I’m not looking forward to the lodging part.”
