The first mistake people make about the Sundance Film Festival is thinking it’s for “those people” — the Californians and New Yorkers who are visiting Park City, wearing designer clothes and talking about their agents and such.
Those people exist, surely. (Ages ago, Park City locals coined the term PIBs, “people in black,” to identify them.) But a lot of the people attending Sundance, in Park City and at its venues in Salt Lake City, are from Utah — and the filmmakers love to hear from them, because they give more honest reactions to the movies than the Hollywood types.
Navigating the 2024 Sundance Film Festival — with in-person screenings Jan. 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, and online screenings Jan. 25-28 — can be tricky. Here are some tips on how to make it through, and even have fun, at the festival.
What’s different this year
Ticket prices • The individual tickets are more expensive this year: $30 each for in-person screenings, and $25 for online screenings. They went on sale Jan. 11, so they may be scarce already.
Venue dates • Two of Sundance’s larger venues, the Eccles Theatre and the Prospector Square Theatre, will go dark for the festival’s second half, starting Wednesday, Jan. 24. On the other hand, the Holiday Village Cinemas’ screens — which play press and industry-only screenings during the first half — will be holding public screenings starting Thursday, Jan. 25.
Venues out of use • Two of the festival’s regular screening sites pre-COVID, the Temple Theatre and the MARC, remain out of action.
Sundance vs. Slamdance • The Park theaters, within the DoubleTree Park City (aka The Yarrow), won’t be showing Sundance movies — because they’re booked for the Slamdance Film Festival, the companion event to Sundance, returning to the hotel after years on Main Street.
How to get tickets, etc.
Ticket packages • All ticket packages are sold out, but a couple of pass options are still available: The Salt Lake City Pass, which gets the holder into any in-person screening at a Salt Lake City venue, for $550; or the Express Pass Second Half, which gets the holder into any in-person screening from Jan. 24-28, for $4,000.
Online packages • Online screenings of many festival entries are scheduled for the festival’s last four days, Jan. 25-28. The online ticket packages are sold out, except for the $25 Short Films Pass, which allows unlimited online access to the festival’s short films.
Waitlist • Sundance has a waitlist system, so there’s always a chance of getting into a sold-out screening by queueing up, both physically and electronically, and buying a ticket. Download the festival’s app onto your smartphone to start a waitlist account; the app will have instructions on how to get in a virtual line before each screening. (The app is also handy for schedules and transit maps. And it’s the conduit for voting for the festival’s audience awards.)
Non-movie events • Read through the Sundance program guide, online at festival.sundance.org or on the app, for its Beyond Film offerings — most of them free for those with festival credentials (which includes ticket package and pass buyers) — in the Filmmakers Lodge at 550 Main St., Park City. And the ASCAP Music Cafe, which took a break last year after the pandemic, is back for two days, Sunday and Monday, Jan. 21-22, at the Acura venue at 480 Swede Alley, off Main Street. The roster of musicians had not been announced at press time.
Parking • Park City has set rates for the China Bridge parking garage (on Swede Alley, a block over from Old Main) at $40 on Thursday, Jan. 18; $50 on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21; and $30 from Sunday to Tuesday, Jan. 22-24 ($10 cheaper than last year). Parking there returns to standard rates (between $1 and $5 an hour, depending on location) after that. There’s free parking at the Richardson Flat Park-and-Ride, with shuttle buses running between 5:30 a.m. and 2:05 a.m. (There’s also free parking, after ski hours, at Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Village, with buses servicing both sites.) Some driving in from elsewhere in Utah like to park at the Kimball Junction shopping areas, then get to the bus station — where they can catch a shuttle into town. And always be aware of where you can’t park (e.g., the Fresh Market parking lot), because tow truck drivers will pounce.
Other things to know
Mind the altitude • Oxygen deprivation in Park City often catches the sea-level dwellers from L.A. and New York unaware, and even Salt Lakers sometimes succumb to the thin air — so drink plenty of water. Also, remember that alcohol can affect people more acutely when they’re at altitude, so pace yourself.
Avoid ‘festival crud’ • Getting sick is a tradition for many Sundance attendees. So it’s a good precaution to have a small bottle of hand sanitizer on your person. It’s also worthwhile to get your flu shot and COVID boosters before you go, and have a mask with you, just in case.
Get out of your bubble • If a Sundance title has a big star attached, it’s likely going to open in theaters (or start streaming on Netflix) within months. So seek out the unusual titles, the ones from faraway places with people you’ve never heard of. You may find a gem before anyone else does. Most festival veterans will tell you that the documentaries are uniformly the best movies at Sundance. And the short film programs offer lots of variety — and if you tell some student filmmaker that their short moved you, you will be the recipient of gratitude on a cosmic level.
Eat something • The rules for concessions, and the availability of good food, vary wildly from venue to venue. (Traditionally, the Eccles has good sandwiches and pizza — but you have to scarf them down while standing in the lobby, because only water is allowed into the theater.) After visiting a few venues, you’ll figure out what you can get and where.
Talk to people • You’re on the shuttle bus, or in line outside the theater, or in your seat waiting for a movie. Don’t look at your phone; talk to your fellow humans. Compare notes on what movies you’ve seen, or find out why they’ve spent money and risked frostbite to be in Utah. Lifelong friendships, and a few marriages, have started this way.
Relax • Festival attendees could drive themselves insane trying to be in the right place to see that particular movie, or share breathing space with that celebrity, and so on. Let it go. There are always five or six spectacular, amazing things happening simultaneously at Sundance. Live in the moment and enjoy the one you’re seeing, and don’t worry about missing the other ones.
