Montage Deer Valley Unveils Giant Gingerbread Tribute to Sundance

Montage Deer Valley transformed its lobby into a seasonal draw on December 2, 2025 with a large gingerbread installation that celebrates the Sundance Film Festival and the festival's ties to Park City. The piece was designed and constructed by Executive Pastry Chef Romie Fisher and her pastry team, and it is on public view throughout the holiday season.

The installation recreates a vintage theater, using approximately 1,700 gingerbread cookies and roughly 700 pounds of chocolate along with other edible components. Visitors can spot edible chocolate nutcrackers, ornate edible frames and a functioning screen that projects holiday films inside the display. The work pays tribute to Sundance history in Park City and honors Robert Redford as part of its cultural theme.

Construction combined culinary craft with engineering oversight to meet structural and climatic challenges. Because Summit County's dry winter air affects baking adhesives, the team intentionally used less royal icing and leaned on alternative assembly techniques and engineering input to ensure stability and longevity for the multiweek display. Those choices reflect both artistic priorities and practical constraints for an exposed lobby exhibit that must withstand public viewing and changing indoor humidity conditions.

For local residents the installation is more than seasonal decoration. It anchors holiday foot traffic at a major Deer Valley hotel, offering free access to families and visitors and providing a fresh reason for Park City guests to linger in the downtown area during a key tourism period. The display ties into the festival era identity that underpins the town's cultural calendar, creating a visual homage that could help sustain winter visitor interest beyond ticketed events.

The gingerbread theater blends culinary labor, design and local cultural memory into a public attraction. With its heavy use of chocolate and thousands of baked pieces, and with screening capability, the exhibit is engineered for both spectacle and safety, and it serves as a festive reminder of Park City’s ongoing relationship with film and winter tourism.