The news that Salt Lake City/Park City is one of three finalists as the Sundance Film Festival considers new host cities beginning in 2027 is reason to be optimistic, though we aren’t across the finish line yet.With our unique blend of urban vibrancy and natural beauty, both locations teaming up makes a compelling case to keep Sundance, a crucial icon of our economy and culture and a beacon signaling Utah’s embrace of the creative arts as part of a diverse, sustainable future.  An announcement is expected early next year.Regardless of the outcome of Sundance’s final location selection in its RFP process, it’s clear that if Utah is successful, it would require a revised Festival License Agreement that reflects this new vision. As the current agreement is due to be renewed by October 1, a new agreement is now necessary should Sundance select Utah’s bid. As expected, Sundance formally delivered to Park City its intent not to renew the 2013 Festival License Agreement. Meanwhile, the Sundance Institute and Park City are hard at work preparing to host exciting 41st and 42nd editions of the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and 2026. And we’re continuing in the RFP process to bid on the Festival starting in 2027.For months, we’ve been facing spirited competition from cities around the country eager to host this prestigious international event (Cincinnati and Boulder, CO, are also finalists). Our success so far is a testament to the Utah team’s open-minded flexibility, ability to cooperate as a team and adapt to Sundance’s need to reimagine the festival.Sundance expressed interest in expanding to Salt Lake City for affordability and better access to additional venues while maintaining a presence in Park City. When the Utah Office of Tourism, the Utah Film Commission, the City and County of Salt Lake, Park City Municipal, Visit Park City and Visit Salt Lake hosted the Sundance Film Festival Host Committee in late August, we directly addressed Sundance’s priorities. Specifically, the vision reimagines a downtown Salt Lake “Sundance Festival Quarter,” reducing festival transportation and lodging expenses by more than $1 million while maintaining an exciting opening weekend in Park City. Woven throughout the proposal are plans for celebrating multi-cultural film programming, partnering with the University of Utah and Silicon Slopes, and hosting events that showcase our natural beauty and celebrate the diversity of the Sundance community.We’ve put forward creative suggestions that celebrate the unique “Two Cities/One Experience” theme that has been part of Sundance for years and that only we can offer.From the beginning, this has been a team effort to keep Sundance in Utah — with an openness to the change and the innovation necessary to ensure the Festival’s success. Park City is proud to team up with Salt Lake City and our other partners to offer this compelling case that the Festival should continue its story right here at home.Jennifer Wesselhoff is the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.The post Park City Pulse: Salt Lake City is key to our Sundance bid appeared first on Park Record.