The Sundance Institute has partnered with Denver Trivia League to celebrate the history and impact of the film festival for six nights of trivia across 30 bars and restaurants in Colorado.
By Evan Borman
Boulder Weekly
I drank at the bar surrounded by 24,000-square-feet of bowling lanes, arcades, dartboards and a smorgasbord of high-end sports bar food. Old friends shared intimacies over cocktails, the shouts of children carried across the air hockey table and football fans carried emotions in languageless noise.
The Punch Bowl Social in Denver held the first night of the Sundance Film Festival Trivia Week on Sunday, Nov. 8 and 15 teams battled for tickets to the 2027 festival in Boulder. I came alone carrying anxieties and illogical confidence, and the host found me a team to join for the competition.
Punch Bowl Social on South Broadway St. in Denver, Colorado on Nov. 9, 2026
Jeff Levine, head of audience development and experience for the Sundance Film Festival introduced the trivia game to a largely distracted audience, and the game began. As the rounds progressed and the answers were revealed, I realized my team had lost before the end. I walked away a glad loser with a list of films to watch and film soundtracks stuck in my head.
In partnership with the Denver Trivia League, the Sundance Film Festival Trivia Week features six nights of free independent film-themed trivia throughout more than 30 bars and restaurants across the Front Range.
The Denver Trivia League is a local LGBTQ+ and Latino-owned trivia company based in Denver that hosts trivia nights, music bingo and donates thousands of dollars toward nonprofit organizations to bring people together to learn in a competitive environment.
“I really do think that trivia can be a community,” Denver Trivia League founder Julio Trujillo said. “That’s always what I enjoy is that you can provide a fun night for people and kind of find that third space for people to come out and enjoy themselves.”
Trujillo created the Denver Trivia League in 2021 after realizing there was an opportunity to foster community following the pandemic in an affordable third space. Trujillo developed a website that allowed participants to play on their phones to reduce the hassle and give trivia players more time to spend with friends.
In November, the Denver Trivia League partnered with the Food Bank of the Rockies to donate to support families during Thanksgiving. Teams that donate $5 or more to a fundraiser during the game get two bonus points.
“I always make the first donation. I usually do like $25. I’m just going to get it started and then from there we raise usually upwards of $500 to sometimes even $1,000 a month going to nonprofits through these fundraisers,” Trujillo said. “We’re all part of this community together, giving back to the community and having fun playing trivia.”
The collaboration with Sundance began when a member of the Sundance Institute played in a trivia game at Avanti in Boulder and saw the opportunity to raise awareness for the festival.
“We're bringing a little movie magic to neighborhoods across the Front Range leading up to the Sundance Film Festival. It's a chance to put your film knowledge to the test, learn about the festival's incredible history, and even score tickets to join us in Boulder this January. Whether you're a trivia buff or an independent film fan, we're excited to build on the strong sense of community here in Colorado,” Levine said.
The Denver Trivia League has collaborated with Letterboxd to create unique questions for the games. The rounds cover the festival's history, Oscar nominees, film reviews and rankings, movie soundtracks and celebrity red carpet appearances.
“The Letterboxd review one I think is a very fun one because it’s a different way to kind of go about a traditional round of trivia,” Trujillo said.
The Sundance Film Festival Trivia Week is divided so that games on Monday and Tuesday have different questions from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so that people can visit again for a different experience.
The winning team at every event will win six tickets to the Sundance Film Festival.
“If you are going to form your own team, choose from different ages,” Trujillo said. “That’s a good strategy because often trivia is so much about different generations and their music and their movies. So if you have someone that has a different life perspective, a different age, then that’s always a good advantage in a trivia team.”
Sundance Film Festival Trivia Week Schedule:
Monday, Nov. 9
- Denver Beer Co. - Littleton 6:30 p.m.
- Pony Up - Denver, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 10
- Comrade Brewing - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Out of the Barrel Taproom - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Bivy Beer Bar - Golden, 6:30 p.m.
- Denver Central Market - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Avanti - Boulder, 7 p.m.
- Neighborly Pints - Broomfield, 7 p.m.
- New Image Brewing - Arvada, 7 p.m.
- FlyteCo Tower - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Good Luck Club - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Finns Manor - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Ephemeral Rotating Taproom - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Hamburger Mary’s - Denver, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 11
- Vanishing West Ciders - Aurora, 6:30 p.m.
- Denver Beer Co. South Downing - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Danico Brewing Co. - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Olde Town Social - Arvada, 7 p.m.
- Hopscotch Beer Garden at Denargo Market - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Locavore Beer Works - Littleton, 7 p.m.
- Denver Beer Co. - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Novel Strand Brewing Co. - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Our Mutual Friend Brewing - Denver, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 12
- River North Brewery RiNo Taproom - Denver, 6:30 p.m.
- Table Public House - Denver, 7 p.m.
- Ye Olde 121 Public House - Lakewood, 7 p.m.
- Comet Brews - Littleton, 7 p.m.
- Old 121 Brewhouse - Lakewood, 7 p.m.
- New Image Brewing Company - Wheat Ridge, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 13
- Trade Denver - Denver, 7 p.m.
Mackey Auditorium Concert Hall venue for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival at CU Boulder. Courtesy of Katie Shapiro, Bloomerang PR