People gather at park for annual Spokane concert

Sandra Davis arrived at 8 a.m. Monday to set up a blanket and chairs to reserve a spot near the stage for the annual Labor Day concert at Comstock Park.

Davis doesn’t regularly attend Spokane Symphony events but she never misses this performance, which she considers a gift.

“This is a tradition for a lot of families,” Davis said.

Like most years, she found that many other people had reserved their places Sunday night, by leaving blankets, tarps and chairs in the park. But that’s fine because that’s part of the event’s charm, she said.

She pointed at the east side of the audience area at yellow police tape marking off an area beneath the largest Ponderosa Pine in the park – one group’s way of reserving a spot.

“They put on a real feast for their family and friends,” Davis said.

That group is also known for lighting a bunch of candles to help set a special mood for the evening, she said.

One family near her tarp laid out three blankets, and set up three adult chairs and a plastic children’s table with chairs, topped with a glass vase of yellow cone flowers.

By 3 p.m., there were dozens of blankets and beach chairs set up, with only six people who had taken their places under the sunshine to wait the three hours for the free concert to begin.

Davis watches the concert with her daughter and her 5-year-old granddaughter and other friends. They pull up the tarp by concert time so the crinkle noise doesn’t disturb anyone. There are always a lot of children, she said. If they get restless, the tennis court and swings are nearby.