Labor Day festivities will provide a collective last hurrah to the summer season.

The grand opening of the Los Angeles Festival of Pacific Rim cultures will share the spotlight with a large outdoor arts and crafts festival, a Samoan cultural celebration and community picnics as the South Bay salutes the Labor Day Weekend.

Three days of free attractions in San Pedro will launch the two-week Los Angeles Festival. It will formally open at noon Saturday with the ringing of the Korean Peace Bell at Angels Gate Park and the parading of artists in native costumes to Point Fermin Park.

During the three-day weekend, festival-goers will be able to take part in an American Indian celebration and enjoy music and dancing from Australia, the Andes, Alaska and points in between, as well as American blues and gospel.

Festival grounds at Angels Gate and Point Fermin will open at noon each day, closing at 7 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Streets in the festival area will be closed to traffic, and free parking will be available at the Port of Los Angeles Berth 87, 1st Street and Harbor Boulevard, and at White Point Park, Western Avenue and Paseo del Mar. There will be free shuttles to the festival.

In Hermosa Beach, the 27th edition of the Fiesta de las Artes--featuring arts and crafts, food and entertainment--will unfold Saturday through Monday on the street at Pier and Hermosa avenues. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

Oil and acrylic paintings, watercolors, jewelry, hand-blown glass, and wood and leather work will be displayed in more than 400 booths. At a 30-booth international food pavilion, people will be able to try European, Asian, African, Cajun, Mexican and Jamaican dishes. “You can smell the food wafting all over,” fiesta coordinator B. J. Conte said.

People looking for entertainment will be able to choose from the likes of the pop and Afro-Caribbean blend of Beat Around the Bush, the Louisiana-style Zydeco Party Band, jazz sounds of the Campbell Brothers and Renata and Her Belly Dance Review.

Youngsters will have their own diversions, with pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting and the puppetry of Freddie Prez.

With 100,000 people expected to throng the fiesta during the three days, people are urged to use free parking at Mira Costa High School, Artesia Boulevard and Peck Avenue, in Manhattan Beach. Shuttles to the fiesta cost $1, with children under 12 riding free.

Carson’s large Samoan population will celebrate its heritage Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Scott Park, 23410 Catskill Ave. The free event, expected to attract 2,000 people, will be highlighted by visitors from the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. They will demonstrate Samoan fire making, coconut husking, weaving and clothes making.

Booths will display Samoan cultural artifacts, sell crafts and offer ethnic foods. A softball tournament will also be held.

The Carson park will hold preliminaries for the softball tournament Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Food booths will also be open, and a variety of social organizations and schools will be on hand to give people information about services and educational and job opportunities.

The park also will hold a talent show and dance Saturday night from 7 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $2.

On the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the South Coast Botanic Garden--located at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd.--will hold its annual free Labor Day Picnic and Concert on Monday from 4 p.m. to dusk. People may stroll through the garden and eat picnic suppers on the lawn. The Palos Verdes Symphonic Band will present a concert of marches, show music and a smattering of the classics.

Norma Cantafio, executive director of the garden’s foundation support group, said the picnic was started several years ago as a thank-you to the community for supporting the garden. “It’s become a family tradition to spend Labor Day here picnicking,” Cantafio said. “Dress is casual; people bring blankets and picnic baskets and it’s just lots of apple pie and fun.”

Rancho Palos Verdes held its first Labor Day Community Picnic last year, drawing more than 1,000 people. The city called it a success and is holding the second-annual event on Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hesse Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd.

With an emphasis on family entertainment, the day’s events will include arts and crafts for children and lawn games, including sack races, volleyball, a pie-eating contest and Frisbee throwing. A special attraction for children will be the Tiger Bounce, an enclosed trampoline shaped like a tiger.

The day’s entertainment stars will be the Authentics, a nostalgics band--one player dresses like Elvis--that emphasizes ‘50s and ‘60s music in its repertoire of 250 songs.

Everything is free, except for small charges for the Tiger Bounce and crafts activities.

“It’s a nice way to wrap up the summer, a last hurrah before the kids go back to school,” said Nancie Silver, Hesse Park director. “Grab a picnic basket and have a good old-fashioned family event.”