UTAH, Dec. 23, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Sundance Film Festival will now require boosters for in-person attendees, officials announced Thursday.
“The health and safety of our community is paramount,” said a statement from the Sundance Institute. “The 2022 Sundance Film Festival has been designed as a hybrid event that has flexibility for attendees to participate in-person and/or online. Early on, the festival put in place strict in-person health safety measures requiring all participants to be fully vaccinated and to wear masks in all venues and lines. Testing requirements were added, requiring community members (employees, volunteers, artists, press and industry) to show a negative test completed within 48 hours prior to arriving at the festival, with additional testing requirements for those attending private gatherings of artists taking part in Q&A’s or press activities.”
The 2022 festival runs from Thursday, Jan. 20 to Sunday, Jan. 30.
In addition to existing health safety measures of requiring vaccinations, mask wearing, and testing to maximize safety, officials announced Thursday the following policy updates for the in-person festival and shared details on vaccine verification procedures and onsite vaccination verification and testing hub locations.
COVID-19 Vaccination
- Boosters are now required for all in-person attendees (employees, volunteers, contractors, general public, artists, partners, press, and industry) who are eligible and for who the CDC recommends, currently everyone ages 16 and older.
- All participants are required to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to attending the festival and if eligible have received a booster prior to attending the festival in person. Currently, fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks after the second dose of a two-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19, Moderna), a single dose of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, or following the protocol for other WHO-approved vaccines.
- Vaccination and booster verification, for those eligible, need to be shown on site at a Vaccine Verification and Testing Hub and once shown, each participant will be provided a wristband that will need to be worn at all times.
Masks
- In addition to mask wearing being required in all festival-operated venues, it is strongly recommended individuals continue wearing masks indoors when in public places or private shared spaces to help protect themselves from the spread of COVID-19.
Theater/Venue Capacity For Festival Run Screenings and Events
- Theaters will operate at reduced capacity with no eating or drinking permitted in theaters. Festival-operated non-theater venues will have reduced capacity for public programming at The Craft, The Filmmaker Lodge, The Box and The Shop and food and beverages will not be permitted in these spaces during public programming.
- Capacity will be reduced for most of the festival operated private events. These events will require proof of a negative test taken within 48 hours prior to the event.
Vaccine Verification Procedures
Sundance Institute has partnered with PandemSafe and will offer free vaccine verification to all employees, volunteers, artists, filmmakers, press and industry, contractors, and general attendees. Individuals will upload their vaccination card into the PandemSafe portal, via a link sent to their email. This email will be generated when an individual purchases a ticket, or it will be available on the Sundance Film Festival website under the How to Fest section beginning Jan. 6, 2022. The PandemSafe team will verify the uploaded card within one to two days from upload prior to the Festival and two to four hours during the festival and in return, the individual will be sent a QR code. This code will allow users to get a verification wristband when they come to the festival.
Verification will take place at Vaccine Verification and Testing Hubs located throughout the festival.
Testing
Sundance Institute will offer free testing to all participants and community members at specific Vaccine Verification and Testing Hubs located around the festival. All participants and audience members are encouraged to get tested prior to arrival at the festival for community safety.
Those required to show proof of negative test results upon arrival to the festival include:
Employees/volunteers/onsite contractors: Required to be tested at check-in and mid-way through the festival. Encouraged to be testing every 48 hours throughout the festival.
Artists/press and industry: Required to be tested within 48 hours prior to arrival or upon arrival. Additional testing required for private events participation. Artists are required additional testing when participating in Q&A’s, programming, and press lines. Additional testing is required for private events where proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours prior is needed for entry.
Both PCR and rapid antigen tests will be offered and accepted as proof of a COVID-19 test. Additionally, any FDA-approved COVID-19 test that displays a valid date and time of test taken and valid lab result will be accepted.
For festival operated testing hubs the test results will be emailed to the individual either through the PandemSafe portal, if the individual has created an account, or through 3rd party testing partners.
Vaccine Verification and Testing Hub Locations
Vaccine Verification and Testing hubs offer both vaccine verification and free COVID-19 testing located around Park City. Wristbands required to enter any official festival venue will be issued at these hub locations. Additional information in connection with Salt Lake City Hubs will be disclosed soon.
Kearns Bonanza Corner (Old Maverick Station) — 1635 Bonanza Drive, Park City.
Jan. 17 — Jan. 30 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Miners Hospital — 1354 Park Ave., Park City. Jan. 20 — Jan. 25 from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Jan. 26 — Jan. 30 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Galleria Parking Lot off of Main Street in Park City — Jan. 17 – Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We will continue to monitor the general levels of community transmission and local COVID-19 vaccination coverage in our in-person communities, working to maximize their health safety and adjust any plans as needed for the safety of our community,” the statement said. “Any further policy updates will be shared in early January.”
