We love Sundance. Even if you’re not a movie buff, you might have heard of it. It’s the international film fest that launched careers like Jennifer Lawrence’s and premiered movies like 500 Days of Summer. It’s also run by Robert Redford and held in the mountain resort town of Park City, Utah. It’s pretty fucking cool. And there’s no reason it can’t be an incredible budget experience. Passes for the shindig can run a couple grand, but we’ve managed to attend the last three years (and I can guarantee you we didn’t spend our entire budget for three months of travel in South America). Here are our best suggestions.

1. Plan in Advance

Planning may not be super fun, but it will get you to more places for less money. Sundance is normally held in late January, and dates are announced as early as October. If you can book your flight and find a place then, it will save you tons of money.

2. Look at a Map

It may sound silly, but Park City does not exist in a bubble. A map will tell you tons of things, including that Salt Lake City Airport (a major international hub) is located only thirty minutes from the fest. This will give you tons of options including staying in Salt Lake City at cheaper digs (now that you know it’s such a short drive!) or at least making sure your Airbnb is on a bus route.

3. Get Creative with Accommodation

We’re lucky to have friends in Park City (a gift from the gods). Maybe you do too, maybe you don’t, but it’s worth a try to connect back up with that long lost woman who took hot yoga with your mom. Family friends are infinitely under utilized. If you can’t work anything out, check out couchsurfing or Airbnb (you can use our link to get money off on your first trip!), though the latter can get wicked expensive during peak festival and it’s worth it to think about staying in Salt Lake City for some price breaks.

4. Book Cheap Flights

The aforementioned Salt Lake City Airport is home to a couple budget airlines. Most notable is Frontier for those traveling within the US. I’ve gotten about a million $25 flights from Denver, which is a steal for anywhere outside of Europe (no, you won’t get snacks and yes, a proper carry on costs extra money). If you’re visiting internationally, another legitimate option is checking out even bigger airports like Los Angeles or Denver. Which brings us to...

5. Consider Renting a Car

I really hate to say this, as renting a car should not be your cheapest option. But, Utah does not have the creme de la creme of public transport systems and if you book a place in Salt Lake, you’ll need a reliable way to get to Park City. With crazy deals (it cost us like $70 for four days) it can be a cheaper option than a few of those $30 Ubers (there will be surge charges and they will be brutal).

6. Use Public Transport

That being said, for the intrepid among us, relying strictly on public busses is possible. There’s a bus that costs $4.50 connecting you from Salt Lake City to Kimball Junction , where you can connect with the network of free busses that run within Park City itself. Check routes on the Sundance website as they change during peak festival.

7. Tickets not Passes

This is key. To enjoy the festival, you absolutely do not need a pass. In fact, unless you’re trying to schmooze with the people you normally see on TV, passes are downright silly. They really do two things: get you in to private events/venues and make it effortless to attend movies. But my effort is not worth thousands of dollars.

It’s totally possible to buy tickets for individual movies online. A quick check of the Sundance site will tell you what day they’re available. All you have to do is make an account, log in at the correct time, chill in a digital wait room for a bit, and pick the movies you want. Now, that’s not saying you will get every movie you your heart desires (some will be sold out by the time you get to touch them), but I guarantee you will have access to amazing movies, even premiers! And all that for around $25 a piece (this changes periodically, too so check before you buy). After you order the tickets, you’ll be able to pick them up at the box office before your screening.

8. Take Advantage of Your ID Card

Now, if you happen to hold the identification of someone special, like students or Utah residents, there is definitely the possibility of special deals. You might even get access to screenings or free events. Because we know Utah residents, we get access to tickets about five days early. Again, check the website for details.

9. Waitlist the Best Movies

Even if you don’t get all the movies you want, there’s still hope. Sundance has a great policy set up to fill their theaters: an online waitlist. At this site you can waitlist any movie at the festival for a chance to get in. You’ll make an account and visit the website exactly two hours before your desired movie, where you’ll click to enter the waiting room. You can see your waitlist number and even link up with a friend. If you think you have a good chance (we’ve gotten in to all our waitlist movies) you have to be at the theater half an hour before show time with $20 cash to test your luck. This is our favorite way to see movies at Sundance: not only is it the cheapest, but it also gives you the most flexibility.

10. Consider some movies in Salt Lake

Although Sundance is headquartered in Park City, it also has screenings in other places, including Salt Lake City. I would highly recommend spending part of your time in Park City for the full experience, but catching some screenings in the valley can be awesome. You’re more likely to get into the bigger movies here, and from my experience the crowds are more excited about being there and less snooty.

11. Stay for the Q&A

Almost all movies have these, a chance for the audience to talk with cast and crew of the film you just saw. While I am no videographer, even I was nerding out about the experience. It’s totally unique to Sundance, so why not spend the extra half an hour to be enlightened.

12. Bring Your Own Food (and Libations)

Do not eat out in Park City unless you are prepared to pay at least double normal prices. The town is already expensive, but during festival time, expect a large latte on Main Street to be $10. You can get good deals at the restaurants slightly out of town, and of course meals in Salt Lake will be unchanged by event pricing. Most importantly, bring your own drinks. Bars in Park City all have insane covers and while there’s a small percent chance you might run into Elijah Wood (like we did!) it’s really not worth it. They’ll check your bags lightly going into the theater, but slipping in a thermos of wine is highly recommended.

13. Go to the Second Half

We made the mistake of attending the first half of the festival one time. Sure, you may see more premiers or more stars. But personally, the decreased access to movies, excessive traffic, and extra price is not worth it. For the casual movie goer, the second half of the festival offers an amazing experience that’s much more reasonable in so many ways.

14. People Watch

Now I’m not saying you have to chase Elijah around with a DSLR - you can determine your own movie star etiquette. But you can have some fun times plopping yourself down on Main Street. There are pretty amusing characters at this place and I can’t tell you the next time I’ll bump elbows with a $150,000 coat. Plus, it’s a free activity, and why spend $20 for a bowl of soup when you could see a sick premier of the next Little Miss Sunshine.

Have you been to Sundance? Did our tips convince you to try it out? Let us know in the comments!