Rock the Canyon returns beneath Shonto’s cottonwoods
Navajo Times | Sharon Chischilly
Artist Radmilla Cody performs Aug. 29 during the Rock the Canyon Arts & Music Festival in Shonto Canyon, Ariz.
SHONTO CANYON, Ariz.
Rain darkened the ground beneath the cottonwood trees Aug. 29 as relatives, artists, vendors and musicians gathered at the Eddie Shootinglady Pavilion.
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Seven years after its last festival, Rock the Canyon was back in Shonto Canyon.
Some people turned around when the rain came. Others stayed, walking between booths and the pavilion as clouds settled over the canyon.
Elizabeth Whitethorne-Benally stayed in the rain.
“A lot of people went home or turned around because they saw the rain, but here in Shonto, when the rain comes, we welcome it,” she said. “We’ve been walking around in it today simply because we haven’t had rain in a while.”
Whitethorne-Benally has been part of Rock the Canyon since its early years, and Edward Whitethorne reflected on the years since the festival last took place in 2019.
To read the full article, please see the Sept. 3, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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