Last updated: September 2026
The short answer: yes, you can rent your Boulder home during Sundance 2027 even if you don’t live in it. The City of Boulder’s new Festival Lodging Rental License drops the principal-residence requirement, is open to any ownership type including LLCs, and allows 29 rental days a year. The festival runs 21–31 January 2027, applications are open now, and the one hard deadline in the region is 1 November 2026 for unincorporated Boulder County.
The Sundance Film Festival runs in Boulder from January 21 to 31, 2027, and the City of Boulder has created a license class specifically so residents can rent their homes to attendees. It’s called the Festival Lodging Rental License, and it does something Boulder’s ordinary short-term rental rules have never allowed. It lets you rent a property you don’t live in.
That’s the headline for most owners. Boulder’s standard short-term rental license requires the home to be your principal residence for more than half the year. The Festival Lodging license removes that requirement entirely.
Demand is real. Airbnb searches for Boulder during the festival window are up 500% year over year, and as of mid-August the city had received 964 festival lodging applications with roughly half already issued. Supply is filling. If you’re considering this, the useful question isn’t whether to do it. It’s what the actual deadlines are, and what your property is realistically worth.
The deadlines that matter
Only one jurisdiction has published a hard cut-off. The rest are governed by processing time, which amounts to the same thing.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| November 1, 2026 | Application deadline for unincorporated Boulder County. The county has no festival license, so you need a standard short-term or vacation rental license, and this is the last date to apply for approval before the festival. |
| Early December 2026 | Practical cut-off for a City of Boulder festival license. There is no published deadline, but the city states applications take two to six weeks to process. Work back from that. |
| December 31, 2026 | Deadline to secure a booking to qualify for Airbnb’s $200 first-time-host bonus. |
| January 11, 2027 | The rental window opens in Boulder, Superior and Louisville. |
| February 9–10, 2027 | The window closes: February 9 in Boulder and Louisville, February 10 in Superior. |
| February 20, 2027 | Sales tax return due for festival-period activity. |
The county deadline is the one people miss. It’s a month earlier than everything else, it applies to mountain-corridor properties that often assume they’re less regulated, and county processing takes several weeks on top.
What the Boulder Festival Lodging License actually allows
Any ownership type qualifies. The city states plainly that “any property ownership type is allowed to hold the license” and that eligible units “do not have to be owner-occupied.” If you own a Boulder property through an entity and have never been able to license it, this is the exception.
Tenants can participate. In April 2026 the council unanimously approved letting renters sublease their homes during the festival, with written permission from the owner. Tenant licenses cost $75 against $190 for owners.
Accessory dwelling units are eligible, as are permanently affordable housing units, both excluded from the standard license.
You get 29 rental days per year, usable only during a designated festival period plus 10 days before and 9 days after. For Sundance that means January 11 to February 9, 2027.
Fees
| Cost | Term | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard application | $190 + $25 business license | 4 years |
| If you hold a long-term rental license | $75 + $25 business license | 1 year |
| Tenant license | $75 | 1 year |
What you’ll need
A signed ownership affidavit, a safety affidavit, and certification of life-safety equipment: smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Sleeping areas have to be “habitable” as defined in the property maintenance code, and occupancy can’t exceed what that code permits. No physical inspection is required, and the city publishes no insurance requirement for this license.
What Boulder homes are actually asking
Sundance and Visit Boulder publish pricing guidelines for the official lodging program. As of the April 2026 guidance, a 1-bedroom sits at $250 a night with a four-night minimum, and a 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath at $1,386 a night with an 11-night minimum. Larger homes are noted as commanding a premium.
Actual asking prices have run well above that. Reporting from June 2026 found listings on the official festival site ranging from $50 a night in Longmont to $3,636 a night for a five-bedroom Boulder home, with several properties above $5,000. By late July, Boulder-area listings on Sundance’s lodging page were clustering between $1,600 and $3,700 nightly. Boulder’s mayor, discussing the program in 2025, described hearing figures “like $30,000 for two weeks.”
Two things worth weighing against those numbers.
The official program can decline you for overpricing. Listing requirements include providing “reasonable pricing,” and the program reserves the right to deny significantly overpriced properties. Pricing above the guidance risks more than an empty calendar. It can cost you the channel.
Park City is the reality check. In the festival’s final Utah season, hosts earned roughly $125 to $425 a night. Boulder’s asking prices reflect a first-year market with no booking history behind it.
Location drives rate more than square footage
Sundance’s Boulder footprint is unusually compact: roughly a dozen venues inside a two-mile radius, against the 40-plus square miles the festival occupied in Park City.
Venues cluster in three areas. Downtown and Pearl Street carries the Boulder Theater, eTown Hall, Boulder High School Auditorium, the Dairy Arts Center and the Canyon Theater at the public library, with festival HQ at the Hotel Boulderado. The CU campus and University Hill hosts Macky Auditorium, Muenzinger, Roe Green Theatre and Old Main. Chautauqua Auditorium anchors the west side, and Cinemark Century Boulder covers the 29th Street corridor to the east.
Walkability to Pearl Street or Macky is the single biggest rate driver. A modest home within walking distance of downtown will outprice a larger one that requires a car and parking during a festival week.
One scheduling detail most owners miss: the in-person core runs January 21 to 26, six days of premieres and industry events, with the gala on Friday the 22nd. The awards fall on Friday the 29th, and January 28 to 31 is partly an online streaming period. The back half of the festival is not the same demand as the front half, and pricing a flat rate across all 11 nights leaves money on the table at one end and empty nights at the other.
Taxes, and the mistake that catches people out
Short-term stays in Boulder carry a combined 12.835% tax: the city’s 7.5% accommodations tax, 2.9% state, 1.335% Boulder County and 1.1% RTD.
Here’s the part that trips up first-time hosts. Boulder is home-rule and self-collecting. The city portion is remitted directly to the City of Boulder through the Boulder Online Tax System, not through the state and not automatically through Airbnb. A platform’s tax collection does not discharge your city obligation. You register with the city and file directly, and the return for festival-period activity is due February 20, 2027.
There’s also a federal provision worth raising with your accountant. Under the Augusta Rule, IRS Section 280A(g), a homeowner can rent a primary residence for up to 14 days a year and exclude that income from federal taxable income. An 11-night Sundance stay fits inside that window. It doesn’t affect your local tax obligations, but for an owner-occupant it can change the arithmetic substantially.
If you’re not in the City of Boulder
Boulder isn’t the only option, and neighbouring jurisdictions differ sharply.
| Jurisdiction | Can you rent for Sundance? | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| City of Boulder | Yes, Festival Lodging License | 29 days, any ownership type, tenants may sublease. $190 + $25, or $75 + $25 with a long-term license. Window Jan 11 – Feb 9. |
| Superior | Yes, Festival STR License | No residency requirement, and multiple units per owner are allowed. The most investor-friendly terms in the county. $200 per unit per festival. Requires $1,000,000 continuous insurance. Window Jan 11 – Feb 10. |
| Louisville | Yes, temporary festival license | A genuine one-off, since Louisville prohibits short-term rentals year-round. All residential types eligible including apartments, mobile homes and ADUs. Requires a Life Safety Affidavit and proof of insurance. License number must appear in listings and be posted inside. Window Jan 11 – Feb 9. |
| Unincorporated Boulder County | Yes, but no festival license | You need a standard short-term or vacation rental license, valid two years. Apply by November 1, 2026. Occupancy limited by septic capacity. |
| Lafayette | No festival license | Primary residence required year-round. |
| Longmont | Not as of September 2026 | Only Longmont residents may hold a license. A regional-event license was under consideration, so confirm current status before relying on it. |
| Broomfield | No | Non-principal-residence short-term rental is prohibited outright. |
| Erie | No rules at all currently | Erie has no short-term rental regulations in its code. Both an ordinance and a lodging tax are expected this autumn, with the tax potentially effective January 1, 2027. |
The Airbnb host bonus
Airbnb is offering $200 to first-time Boulder hosts to expand supply for the festival. To qualify you need to have had no active Boulder listing as of August 1, 2026, list an entire home inside Boulder city limits available for the January period at a minimum of $100 a night, and secure a booking by December 31, 2026. Cancelling without rebooking voids it. Renters can participate with landlord permission.
It is a modest incentive, but December 31 is a real deadline and it falls earlier than most people are planning around.
Getting listed
You have three routes.
The official Sundance booking engine at lodging.sundance.org. To be listed you need a valid Boulder short-term rental or Festival Lodging license, the ability to process payments, the capacity to provide guest support across the whole stay (reservation, check-in, cleaning, departure), and reasonable pricing.
Self-listing on Airbnb, Vrbo or direct.
An approved property management partner. Visit Boulder lists seven, and Effortless Rental Group manages short-term rentals across Boulder County if you’d rather not run the operation yourself.
That middle requirement on the official channel is the one owners underestimate. Guest support across an 11-night stay during the busiest week in the city’s history is not a set-and-forget arrangement, and a bad review from a festival guest follows the listing afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent my Boulder house during Sundance if I don’t live there?
Yes, under the Festival Lodging Rental License. Boulder’s standard short-term rental license requires the property to be your principal residence, but the festival license removes that requirement and is open to any ownership type. It allows up to 29 rental days a year during the designated festival window.
How much does the Festival Lodging License cost?
$190 plus a one-time $25 business license for a four-year term, or $75 plus $25 for a one-year term if you already hold a long-term rental license. Tenant licenses are $75.
When do I need to apply by?
The City of Boulder hasn’t published a deadline, but says applications take two to six weeks to process, so apply by early December at the latest. Unincorporated Boulder County has a hard deadline of November 1, 2026.
Can I rent my apartment if I’m a tenant?
Yes, in the City of Boulder, with written permission from your landlord. The council approved tenant subleasing in April 2026 and tenant licenses became available that May. Louisville also allows renters to participate during its festival window with owner permission.
What can I charge?
Official guidance runs from $250 a night for a one-bedroom to $1,386 for a four-bedroom, though actual listings have run well above that. Note that the official booking program can decline properties it considers significantly overpriced.
Do I have to collect taxes?
Yes. Short-term stays in Boulder carry a combined 12.835% tax, and Boulder self-collects its 7.5% portion, so you register in the Boulder Online Tax System and file directly rather than relying on a booking platform. The return for festival-period activity is due February 20, 2027.
What if my property is outside Boulder city limits?
Superior and Louisville both run festival programs, and Superior has no residency requirement and allows multiple units per owner. Unincorporated Boulder County requires a standard license applied for by November 1, 2026. Lafayette, Broomfield and Longmont have no festival provision.
Thinking about renting for Sundance, or beyond it?
Effortless Rental Group manages short-term rentals across Boulder and Boulder County. We’ll tell you which license your property qualifies for, what it can realistically earn during the festival window, and whether year-round rental makes sense afterward. Free property analysis, no obligation.
Get my free property revenue analysis or call (720) 475-1486.
Methodology & Sources
Every figure in this guide traces to a primary government source or a named data vendor, accessed September 2026. Regulations in Boulder County are changing quickly — confirm current requirements with the issuing jurisdiction before you apply or list.
City of Boulder (Festival Lodging Rental License; Short-Term Rental Licensing; Tax Rates & Types; Sundance Film Festival FAQs; Rules of the Road) · Sundance Institute · Visit Boulder (Festival Lodging Program) · Boulder County (Sundance Information and Resources Guide) · City of Longmont · City of Louisville · City of Lafayette · Town of Superior · City and County of Broomfield · Boulder Reporting Lab · Denver Gazette · Axios Boulder · Rocky Mountain PBS · Denver7 · CBS Colorado. All accessed September 2026.
About the Author
Effortless Rental Group is a Colorado-based short-term rental management company managing 210+ properties for 196+ owners across the Front Range and Colorado’s mountain markets, including Boulder and Boulder County. We handle licensing, pricing, guest communication and operations as one turnkey service.