Though Park City, Utah, is packed with Hollywood celebrities during the Sundance Film Festival, it's no Los Angeles. At this year's fest, which ran from January 17 to 26, brands and event planners kept guests warm—or, in one case, sweating— at cozy events that still embraced the winter weather with thematic tropes and decor. Here's a look inside the festival's most eye-catching activations from brands such as Motorola, SoulCycle, and Quaker Oats.
With a large Motorola emblem as its backdrop, the lounge's bar had slices of tree trunks covering its base.
Quaker Oats teamed up with filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts to produce a short film about the so-called "human energy crisis" (or, people's low energy in a fast-paced world). The brand showed the video in a pop-up setting that had a chalkboard. Visitors could write on the chalkboard to fill in the blank after the phrase: "If I had more energy, I would..."
The step-and-repeat at the activation was lined with stacked packages of Quaker Oats products.
Udi's Gluten Free, a brand of health-conscious health products, hosted a pop-up restaurant called Udi's Gluten Free table. In what was a common design motif at the festival, sliced cross-sections of tree trunks lined the wall, with select circles of wood embossed with sponsor logos.
New this year, the Park City Live Day Lounge had gifting and hospitality suites that showcased brands such as Motorola. In its Moto X lounge, which was papered in scenes of snow-covered tree trunks, the company invited celebrities to test out its new Natural Collection phones.
Within the lounge, guests sat on pillowed couches to take in presentations. Prop taxidermy hung over pillars to add to the woodsy, ski-lodge feel of the space.Â
More subtle Motorla logos appeared on the wood that decorated the bar.
Fingerprint Communications produced a dinner to celebrate its Oakley Learn to Ride activation, which let celebrities hit the slopes on snowboards on January 17. The dinner, presented by Luminara and SOS, took place later that night at a private home. Decor included white candles and snowy white floral arrangements.
The Hotel Chantelle provided catering. Menu items included ramekins of hot soup, house-cured charcuterie, and truffle-honey rack of lamb.
The vodka company took over a space on Main Street to host nightly dinners and cocktail bashes. Servers dressed in the brand's signature blue shade—and wore toasty beanies as a nod to the wintry climate.
The dinner series ChefDance returned to the festival for its 11th run, this time with El Tesoro de Don Felipe Tequila and Suja Juice as partners. Held at Park City Live, the dinner had colorful elements from Finnish design company Marimekko. Different chefs, including former Top Chef stars, prepared the nightly meals.
To help guests warm up—and even break a sweat—popular fitness studio SoulCycle hosted a pop-up at Sky Lodge. Open January 17 to 19, the activation had 30 bikes and classes led by top instructors.
To showcase its juicers, Bella Housewares hosted a smoothie bar at the SoulCycle pop-up.
On January 20, Black Label Media hosted a dinner for 50 guests at producer Molly Smith's Park City home. With production from Hatch and SBE Catering and Special Events, the event had seasonally appropriate eats such as mushroom risotto and almond profiteroles in a spiced hot chocolate sauce. UGG was a sponsor.
