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Asher Crofield thought she had hit the Sundance lottery when she found Festival Base Camp.

"Heated seats. Free food. Panel discussions. It's been a really good place to spend time," the film student from Emerson College in Boston said Saturday.

Crofield said she discovered Sundance's first outdoor venue by accident, when she tried Friday to get into Lena Dunham and Normal Lear's discussion at the notoriously small Cinema Café in Filmmakers Lodge.

"I was too late to get a seat," she said.

Sundance volunteers, instead, pointed her to Base Camp, where all Cinema Café events are streamed live.

Located behind Main Street on Park City's Swede Alley, the venue includes large tents and temporary enclosed structures. There also are several outdoor lounge areas with heated benches and natural gas fire pits to keep warm.

The best part — it's free and you don't need a festival credential for admission, said Burchie Benton, venue manager. "It's really great to be able to let everyone in."

In addition to the live streaming, the main stage also offers daytime panel discussions and nightly musical performances.

"It's really important for us to engage the audience with the artist," said Benton.

The temporary venue holds about 440 people and on the first night it hit capacity, Benton said.

Inside the Base Camp fence, video artist Chris Milk has set up his massive installation, "The Treachery of Sanctuary," part of the 10th year of Sundance's New Frontier program. Through light and shadows, guests are part of the interactive display.

Utah's Blue Copper Roasters serves free coffee and tea every day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (It's available for purchase during other hours); and Salt Lake City's Saturday's Waffle food truck offers a menu of savory and sweet items, which are especially popular from 11 a.m. to 12:30 when they were free. The waffle dishes are around $10 at other times.

"We made 400 waffles on the first day," Mike Law, the truck owner, said Saturday. "But we're loving the vibe. There's nothing else like this."

For the festival, the food truck created two Canadian-themed waffles, a nod to outerwear maker Canada Goose, the venue sponsor. Guests can get poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese curds) and tourtière (a Quebec meat pie). On Saturday morning, the favorite seemed to be the Avocado & Sundance Kid waffle topped with bacon, avocado, goat cheese and a poached egg.

Canada Goose has its own tent, where it is debuting a brand campaign, "Out There," with a short film by director Paul Haggis ("Crash"). And visitors can try on versions of the coats that were worn by winners of the Iditarod and climbers who reached the summit of Mt. Everest.

All combined, "it's really a cohesive experience," said Alexis Jeffries, a graduate student from Los Angeles. "It's like an outdoor mall in the middle of Sundance." —

Festival Base Camp

The Sundance Film Festival offers its first outdoor venue with panel discussions, live streaming of events, nightly musical performances and lounge areas with heated seats and natural gas fire pits.

Where • 475 Swede Alley (behind Main Street), Park City

When • 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through Saturday, Jan. 30

Cost • Free, no credentials required

Food • Free coffee, tea and waffles at various times throughout the day