About 100 films will be shown in Salt Lake City during the festival, giving locals a chance to see movies without driving up Parleys Canyon - or facing the crush around mountain venues.

"Sometimes it is very congested in Park City . . . We do want to give patrons the option of staying down here and having that same kind of festival experience," said Jill Miller, managing director of the Sundance Institute. "There's definitely an audience for independent film in Salt Lake City."

There has always been a Sundance presence in the valley, but this is the first year of the official Sundance-declared "festival district," running from 300 West to 300 East between 100 and 400 South streets.

With movie theaters opening and closing downtown - Sundance has held screenings through the years at the Tower Theatre, Trolley Corners, Madstone and the Sugarhouse Movies 10 - festival organizers had a hard time creating the mood of a special district.

Looking for a place to host tonight's Salt Lake opening film, "Kinky Boots," Sundance chose the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway, because it could book the 500-seat theater throughout the festival, unlike former Salt Lake premiere venue Abravanel Hall, which is booked through the week.

Adding the Rose Wagner to the Broadway Centre Cinemas at 111 E. Broadway meant the two main festival venues in Salt Lake City are both on 300 South (the Tower will also host screenings).

"Through that process, we started realizing how great it would be if we could replicate, or at least sort of replicate, the festival experience" in Park City, Miller said.

For the first time, Salt Lake festivalgoers can relax between films in the Festival Cafe (in the Panache restaurant on the second floor of the Wells Fargo Building on Main Street and 300 South) where patrons with a festival pass or movie ticket can grab a snack and pick up the same Sundance publications as in Park City.

Although some filmmakers and actors don't trek to the valley to attend screenings, those who do have a chance to see the films with a more typical audience than the ones showing up in Park City, Miller said. "It's very common for filmmakers to tell us their best experience, their best screening, was in Salt Lake City."

It's usually a bit easier to get tickets to films in Salt Lake, said Mark Chambers, associate director of ticketing for Sundance. "Staying in Salt Lake is a great way to enjoy the festival. I much prefer to see it in Salt Lake," he said, noting that restaurants are easier to get into and the weather is better.

As with Park City, "If people want to go midweek or the second weekend, their chances are better than the first few days," he said.

Until today, the only noticeable difference along the street is the Sundance banners. Patrons will be encouraged to walk within the district, but no special parking areas have been set aside, nor has the road been blocked off.

Some restaurants, galleries and other businesses along 300 South have expanded their hours and will be offering festival specials.

Lisa Brady, owner of the Beehive Tea Room, is keeping her cafe open late, serving tea, soup, sandwiches, English-style scones and desserts. "They said they wanted to create a festival atmosphere, but we don't really know what that means," Brady said. She hopes the festival will introduce new customers to downtown businesses like her old-fashioned shop. "We hope that this helps contribute to what they're doing down here and make it a success," she said. "Maybe we'll actually look like a real city for a minute."

Her advice to anyone at the festival: Slow down and take time to relax.

"I'm hoping people who go to those films will want a place to sit and hang out and maybe discuss the film," she said. "You can get a pot of tea and some scones and just decompress after the film, or maybe before."

The festival is also taking advantage of the Outdoor Retailer convention, which draws thousands of outdoor gear manufacturers, distributors and journalists to Salt Lake City each January and August, Miller said.

Today's festival opening in Salt Lake City is the U.S. premiere for "Kinky Boots," about an old-fashioned shoe manufacturer who joins with a drag queen to make ladies' shoes - for men. "It's a really fun British comedy, very much a feel-good film," Miller said.