The Grand Canyon is the largest single geological feature in the southwestern United States, stretching 277 miles along the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona.

The river began carving the vast chasm more than five million years ago, cutting through Paleozoic and Precambrian formations, down to the basic schist, leaving massive walls striated into layer upon colorful layer of sandstone, limestone and shale.

Ten miles across at its widest and a mile deep, the Grand Canyon has long been listed among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The United States proclaimed it a National Monument in 1908 and established a National Park around it in 1919. In 1979, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site.

Each year, millions of people come to admire its beauty and explore its depths. Among those hiking at the canyon in 1983 were musicians Robert Bonfiglio (harmonica) and Clare Hoffman (flute). The head ranger happened to hear them play and asked if they would perform a concert for a retiring ranger. Their presentation was well received by the local community and businesses, and it was suggested that concerts might become a regular addition to the Grand Canyon calendar.

In September 1984, Bonfiglio (director) and Hoffman (artistic director) organized the first Grand Canyon Music Festival. The inaugural three-concert event has since grown to a nine-concert series spanning three weeks, with Bonfiglio and Hoffman remaining at the reigns and continuing to perform.

The 22nd season of the Grand Canyon Music Festival takes place September 7 - 24, 2005, with international artists such as Mexican pianist/composer Max Lifchitz and Argentinian mezzo-soprano Desiree Halac performing. High caliber musicians are drawn to the festival not only because of its awe-inspiring setting but also because of its reputation for quality musicianship and sophisticated leadership.

Concerts are held indoors at the Shrine of the Ages auditorium, next to Park Headquarters, about a mile from Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. In addition, the festival conducts a tour to Grand Canyon School and to Native American reservation schools in Arizona.

The festival began its outreach and education programs early in its existence. Since 1984, it has operated programs for the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai and Pima Indian reservations, the Heard Museum and Scottsdale Community College. This season, pre-concert recitals will feature works by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Raven Chacon, students of the festival’s Native American Composers Apprentice Project.

People drawn to the Grand Canyon by the music festival will find that September is a great time to visit. Daytime high temperature at the South Rim averages 76 F, with the nighttime low averaging 47 F. From sunrise to sunset, the colors of the canyon are constantly changing with the angle of the light.

Grand Canyon Village makes a good base for a visit, with its variety of accommodations. Best known, perhaps, is the 100-room El Tovar Hotel, built just 20 feet from the canyon rim by the Fred Harvey Company, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad, in 1905. Styled as a cross between a Swiss chalet and a Norwegian villa, the hotel is the epitome of rough-hewn elegance, constructed from native boulders and Oregon pine.

Nearby is the more affordable Bright Angel Lodge, dedicated in 1935 on the site of Bright Angel Camp, the canyon’s original tent and cabin tourist facility built by James Thurber in the 1890s. In addition to rooms in the main building, the lodge rents several historic cabins on the canyon rim.

In between are the modern twin stone structures of Thunderbird Lodge and Kachina Lodge, while the largest hotel, Yavapai Lodge, is in a wooded setting across the road from Park Headquarters, very convenient for festival-goers.

El Tovar, Bright Angel and Yavapai all include restaurants.

Several shops occupy heritage buildings within the village. Hopi House, opened in 1905, is a multi-story structure of stone and adobe masonry, resembling a pueblo. It was built mainly by Hopi Indians, and Hopis originally lived and worked there, entertaining visitors with traditional dances on the platform to the north. Items crafted by Native Americans continue to be sold at Hopi House today.

Lookout Studio, completed in 1914, was carefully designed of native stone and with an irregular roof line to blend into the canyon rim. When it opened, it had a lounge with a fireplace and a giftshop selling postcards and artwork. On its porch was a high-powered telescope, where visitors could view canyon features and watch mule excursions descend into the chasm. The telescope is now on display at Bright Angel Lodge, but the giftshop still operates, with rock and fossil specimens, books and souvenirs added to its offerings.

Kolb Studio was started in 1904, then altered and expanded over the next 23 years, becoming a two and a half story structure with its upper level on the canyon rim. The Kolb brothers photographed mule passengers beginning the day trip down Bright Angel Trail. The Kolbs then ran to their lab four and a half miles away to process the film, running back to the studio with pictures just in time to sell them to the mule passengers as they emerged from the canyon. The studio now houses a bookstore and exhibition area.

Those famous mule excursions, which have been popular since the Bright Angel Trail opened in 1891, are still available to South Rim visitors. Seven-hour round trips to Plateau Point, 3,200 feet below the rim, and overnight trips to Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the canyon, depart daily from the stone corral at the head of Bright Angel Trail.

Hiking is another popular park activity, but those who prefer less exertion may opt to join a ranger for a short nature walk, a fossil hunt or an evening star watch. In addition, bus tours and air tours operate daily, and free shuttle service provides transportation between park facilities along the South Rim.

To get to Grand Canyon Village, motorists may drive 59 miles along State Highway 64 from the town of Williams, Arizona, to the park’s South Entrance. But those who want to arrive the way folks did a century ago will leave their cars in Williams and take the Grand Canyon Railway to one of only three log depots remaining in the United States, the 1909 Santa Fe Railroad Station in Grand Canyon Village. The train, comprising restored 1920s Harriman coaches pulled by a 1950s locomotive, makes its daily trip in two hours.