The Boulder International Film Festival has announced the dates of its 2026 festival, which will take place later than usual to accommodate the forthcoming Sundance Film Festival.
Next year, BIFF will be held April 9-12, roughly a month later than the 2025 gathering. Organizers say they have selected the new dates in anticipation of Sundance’s arrival in Boulder in 2027.
Sundance typically takes place in late January and early February, though officials have not announced the exact dates of the 2027 event in Boulder.
“We are thrilled about the opportunity to work with the Sundance Film Festival as they make this exciting move to Boulder, ” says Kathy Beeck, director of BIFF.
In addition to unveiling the new dates, BIFF has also opened submissions for its 22nd festival. Organizers are now accepting entries for short films, feature films, documentaries, animation, adventure films and student films to be screened at the 2026 festival.
All films that screen at BIFF are eligible for the prestigious Best of the Festival, Grand Jury and People’s Choice awards. Entries are open now through August 22 for the early deadline, September 26 for the regular deadline, October 31 for the late deadline and December 10 for the extended deadline.
Founded more than two decades ago, BIFF brings 25,000 attendees to Boulder each year, along with award-winning actors, filmmakers and special guests.
BIFF has hosted some of the industry’s most talented artists, including Jane Lynch, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Javier Bardem, Emilio Estevez, Shirley MacLaine, Martin Sheen, William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Bruce Dern, Maria Bello, Peter Fonda, James Franco, and director Oliver Stone, along with many special guests including Presidential Medal of Freedom-honoree Congressman John Lewis, and legendary musicians David Crosby, Jakob Dylan, and Robbie Robertson of “The Band.”
“BIFF in 2025 achieved unprecedented success, spotlighting and celebrating an exceptional group of films and filmmakers,” says Robin Beeck, executive director of BIFF. “Our team is excited to start the journey of discovering the best new films for next year’s festival.”
The Sundance Film Festival, meanwhile, is gearing up for its last years in its long-time home. Since 1981, the festival has been held in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. But the organizers, the nonprofit Sundance Institute, decided to relocate the popular event. In early 2024, 15 cities—including Boulder—submitted proposals to become the festival’s new host.
In the end, Boulder beat out the other two finalists: Cincinnati, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town and college town,” says Amanda Kelso, the acting chief executive officer of the Sundance Institute. “It is a place where the festival can build and flourish. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we invite everyone to be part of our community and to be entertained and inspired. We can’t imagine a better fit than Boulder.”
However, the festival is not moving just yet. It will stay in Park City in 2026, with the upcoming event scheduled for January 22 to February 1. Organizers plan to celebrate the vision of Robert Redford at this year’s event, which includes 90-plus feature films and 50-plus shorts.
Above all else, organizers are committed to showing their appreciation to Park City for all the years it has hosted the gathering. They’ll do that by offering a program of archival screenings, restorations and special events.
“We’re looking forward to commemorating the cherished experiences that we built together while looking to the future,” according to the Sundance Film Festival website. “These significant moments come from our shared history that launched some of the most iconic films that have continued to resonate for decades, fueled curiosity and change, and brought about unforgettable experiences.”
At first, BIFF’s organizers were “skeptical” about the possibility of Sundance relocating to the Centennial State. However, as the Beeck sisters talked more with the team at Sundance and in Colorado, their skepticism turned into excitement.
“It’s not a stretch to say that BIFF has helped pave the way for a festival like the Sundance Film Festival to come to Boulder,” says Robin Beeck. “We’re proud of what we’ve built here over the past 21 years. And we love watching others recognize how important film festivals can be, both as celebrated arts events that contribute to our community’s culture and as economic drivers.”
BIFF is one of several well-established and highly regarded film festivals already taking place in Boulder, along with the Boulder Environmental / Nature / Outdoors Film Festival and the Boulder Jewish Film Festival.
BIFF’s organizers are working in collaboration with the Sundance team to ensure both events are successful moving forward.
“We love Boulder, and we love the art of film, and we’ve championed both those things for more than two decades,” says Kathy Beeck. “We’ll continue to do that.”
