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Charlotte Symphony’s summer Pops concerts series kicks off Sunday at SouthPark

Wanted: Picnic baskets, mildly overcast weather with a gentle breeze, alcohol in moderation and five dozen musicians in white providing buoyant and bravura music.

Unwanted: Stuffy people who insist light classics aren't classics at all, thunderstorms, pets or noisy concertgoers who holler "Yo, play 'Fanfare for the Common Man!' " after one too many brews.

Those are the guidelines for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's Summer Pops season, which starts Sunday at Symphony Park. (That's the open area along Morrison Boulevard, going toward Barclay Downs and away from SouthPark mall.)

The gates open at 5 p.m., and that's a fact worth noting. Blankets, tarps and low-backed chairs start to dot the lawn like spring dandelions soon thereafter. (If you're bringing a high-backed chair, the CSO asks you to sit around the perimeter of the lawn to avoid blocking others' sight lines.) If you get there by 7, you'll hear the Prelude Performance that leads up to the main 8:15 concert.