Park City in January

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Monday, 07 December 2009 14:20

Written by Eric Lurio

During that last week of January, Park City, Utah, plays host to one of the world's most talked about events, The Sundance Film Festival, and the indie film cavalcade kicks in. When Sundance and the full battalion of filmmakers, fans, industry professional and press descend on this small town (a mere 7000 permanent residents) with its beautiful scenery and a number of picturesque neighborhoods, prices of everything quadruple and accommodations are tight. 



Park City is proud of its heritage as part of the Old West. Founded in 1870, it was a mining town that supported as much as 20 saloons. That was something that the theocratic government of the Utah territory didn’t approve of--given its Mormon nature. After several fires, accidents, and the tapping out of the mineral veins proved to be the near-death of Park City, and it was listed as a ghost town by 1950.

Around that time, a ski resort began to grow among the ruins, and by the early 1970s, the place had become a respectable suburban resort. The Film Festivals began arriving in the early 1980s, and the rest is history.

Park City was chosen as the host for the festival because Oscar winning director Sydney Pollack wanted to go skiing while an earlier incarnation of the festival was going on. At that point, superstar actor/director Robert Redford had nothing to do with it. But once he stepped in and took over the festival, he also reshaped the town.

The Lay of the Land
Pretty much all the non-film viewing activities take place on Main Street, where there are lots of after parties, and other industry activities. other kinds of events, street scenes and photo-ops take place. The major restaurants are there and The Kimball Arts Center (638 Park Ave. at the corner of Main St. and Heber Ave.) -- Sundance House during the fest -- is where those with credentials can get warm and civilians can freeze while gawking at the stars coming in and out.

There are nine venues:

Eccles Theater
(1270 Seats)

Racquet Club Theatre
(602 Seats)

Holiday Village Multiplex
(four theaters with 166 seats each)

Library Center Theatre
(448 seats)

Prospector Square Theatre
(332 Seats)

The Egyptian Theatre
(266 Seats)

the Redstone Cinemas
(185 seats)

The free shuttle bus stops at each one.

That's right, there's a free shuttle bus that pretty much goes everywhere you need to go, which means that you're going to spend a lot of time waiting at various bus stops freezing your butt off. However, that's actually better than driving, because there's very little parking near the venues.

Also, the Holiday Village and Prospector Square Theaters are located in strip malls, so there are a number of fast food places there.

Check the listings in the program.

Venues:
George S. Eccles  & Dolores Dare Center For the Performing Arts

1750 Kearns Blvd
Park City, UT 84060 

(435) 655-3114

Egyptian Theatre 
333 Main St
Park City, UT 84060 
(435) 645-0671

Holiday Village Cinemas

1776 Park Ave 

Park City, UT 84060
(800) 326-3264

Library Center Theatre 

1225 Park Ave.
Park City, UT 84060

Prospector Square Theatre

2200 Sidewinder Dr. 

Park City, UT 84060 

(888) 283-3030 or (435) 658-3030

Racquet Club Theatre 

1200 Little Kate Rd. 

Park City, UT 84060

Redstone 8 Cinemas

6030 Market St At Ste 120

Park City, UT 84098  

(435) 575-0221

Temple Theatre

3700 North Brookside Ct.

Park City, UT 84098 

(435) 649-2276 

How to get there:
If you don't have or rent a car, there are a number of shared taxi services at Salt Lake City Airport (SLC) that take you to Park City.

Here are two officially authorized companies:



Express Shuttle

(800) 397-0773

(801) 596-1600 (in Salt Lake City)

(435) 658-3444 (in Park City)

xpressshuttleutah.com

Miderra Lifestyle Management

(866) 374-8824

miderra.com

Hotels:
By the middle of December, we've reached the point of no return as to hotels, however, if you try Craig'sList, you might be able to get some floor space at the many condos in the area. But these are the major hotels and lodges.

The Eating Establishments
As to restaurants and the like, we rarely have enough time to eat anything beyond a hot dog or popcorn at one of the venues. However, the Sundance website recommends the following:

Grub Steak

2200 Sidewinder Drive

Reservations: (435) 649-8060



Mariposa

7600 Royal Street

Reservations: (435) 645-6715

Reef Kitchen

710 Main Street

Reservations: (435) 658-0323



Royal Street Café

7600 Royal Street

Reservations: (435) 645-6628



Seafood Buffet at Deer Valley

1375 Deer Valley Drive

Reservations: (435) 645-6632



Shabu

333 Main Street, 2nd floor

Reservations: (435) 645-7253



Wasatch Bagel

1300 Snow Creek

Reservations: (435) 645-7778

The Map
http://www.parkcityinfo.com/static/index.cfm?action=group&contentID=75

http://www.sundance.org/pdf/transit_map.pdf

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