BOULDER, Colo. — With more than a year until the Sundance Film Festival makes its big debut in Boulder, changes are happening in front and behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Boulder's city council will have a first reading on a code change to it's short-term rental licenses, that would create a so-called "Festival Lodging License."
"Short-term rental licenses are an opportunity for property owners that reside at a property to designate part or all of their property for rentals less than 30 days that typically run on various platforms that we all are familiar with," said Brad Mueller, the director of planning and development services department with the City of Boulder. "The code is being rewritten in anticipation of any large festivals that would be multi-day and a large number of populations attending the festival."
Mueller told Denver7 the idea is the new festival lodging license would reduce requirements and limitations on the existing short-term rental license.
It would allow for the following:
TJ Matt doesn't live or even own a home in Boulder, but he rented an Airbnb for the trip he made to the city from Michigan with his family.
"It's my first time in Boulder, and we're just here to check out the city and mill around. So really, we wanted the local flavor more than anything else," Matt told Denver7 on Thursday. "We wanted, you know, scenery, basically, it was the main purpose of renting a house."
He added he and his family chose a short-term rental over a hotel because of the kind of experience they wanted.
"It's been amazing," Matt said. "We had a guidebook there, WiFi setup and all that. All the amenities that you typically have at your house are sitting there ready for you."
"It's the home away from home for sure, right? You can't get that in a hotel, in my opinion," Matt went on to say.
- The Sundance Film Festival will bring an economic boom to Boulder and the surrounding area when it relocates here starting in January of 2027. Gov. Polis sat down with Denver7's Real Talk and CPR News to talk about the statewide impact of landing the iconic film festival. Watch the segment in the video player below:
Ultimately, a positive experience for visitors and Boulder residents during the SUndance Film Festival is what city officials say they're striving for with the changes.
"The festival lodging license is really part of a bigger picture," Mueller told Denver7. "The 'Festival lodging license' really is part of the bigger ecosystem that we are building for welcoming festivals, a large festival, into the city, making it a situation where residents and business owners can both coexist and prosper and support just the exciting opportunities that come with with something like a large festival."
Boulder's city council is expecting to have it's second reading for the code change on September 18.
