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Study Finds Dramatic Increase In 2018 Sundance Attendance

Sundance Film Festival
upr.org
Sundance Film Festival

An economic impact study estimates that attendance at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival increased dramatically over the previous year.

The study from Y2 Analytics released Tuesday says that nearly 125,000 people attended some part of the 11-day event last year, a growth of more than 70 percent over the estimated 71,600 attendees in 2017.

However, the firm said previous studies likely have failed to count people who only attended the festival briefly.

Organizers said the growth was partially due to a new venue and an expanded festival program focusing on episodic work.

Attendance was estimated by anonymously tracking people's cell phones as they move throughout the festival.

Analysts said the event generated an estimated economic impact of $191.6 million.