Oregon Symphony on the Waterfront



Every year the Oregon Symphony performs a free concert at Waterfront Park the Thursday before Labor Day. We attended this concert when we lived in Beaverton, but after moving to Capital City we opted instead to run at the Bush Park fun runs that usually happened at the same time.

I walked to the park from the office, while Meg and crew came later (while parking at OMSI and walked over the Hawthorne bridge). Ian did okay for part of the time, but he grew restless and I spent much of the evening walking around with him in the backpack.

The symphony always concludes their concert with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, and the National Guard fires rounds from numerous artillery guns stationed in a different part of the park, which Ian and I passed on our walkabout. Just before they were to fire their guns, the sprinkler system turned on and doused all of the officers and their guns. The men found some heavy buckets from who-knows-where, but I can't believe the city forgot to turn off the sprinklers for the evening.


Fireworks follow the concert, and Ian and I were walking across the Hawthorne bridge (which I think is the best spot to watch) while boats on the river launched their fireflowers into the sky. Ian didn't like the sounds of the explosions and cried out with each one, but eventually they lulled him to sleep.

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