Attendance, money spent and jobs created at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival were down a bit from 2018 — and the festival extending into February, for the first time, may be one reason why.
This year’s celebration of independent film drew an estimated audience of 122,313, according to an economic impact statement commissioned by Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute and conducted by Salt Lake City-based Y2 Analytics. That’s down 2,672 people, or just over 2%, of the figure Y2 calculated for 2018’s attendance.
Visitors, both from Utah and outside the state, spent $176,674,097 while attending the 2019 festival — just over $7 million less than in 2018, or just under 4% less.