BEST BETS: Saturday 9/25 : all day: Museums

May the force be with you again (did it ever leave?) as “Star Wars: The Magic of Myth” opens at the San Diego Museum of Art. From Chewbacca to Luke Skywalker’s ice planet Hoth gear, it’s all here in this traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian and Lucasfilm. “Myth” will feature original artwork, storyboards, production models, costumes and characters from all four of the “Star Wars” films including an 11-foot production model of the Imperial Star Destroyer, the costumes of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, and characters C-3PO, R2-D2, Jabba the Hutt and Salacious B. Crumb.

* “Star Wars: The Magic of Myth,” San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. Sunday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Adults, Monday-Friday, $10; Saturday and Sunday, $12; seniors and young adults 18-24, Monday-Friday, $8; Saturday and Sunday, $10; children 6-17, Monday-Friday, $4; Saturday and Sunday, $5; children 5 and under, free. Ends Jan. 2. (619) 232-7931.

1 pm: Festival

Chinatown’s traditional mid-Autumn festival gets a Y2K twist this year: The Millennium Moon Festival has a jam-packed schedule that includes feng shui lectures, tai chi and mahjong demonstrations, calligraphy and lantern-making workshops, traditional music, and samplings of moon cakes, tea and Chinese wines. At sunset, the Miss Chinatown Queen and Court will perform a costumed retelling of the history of the Moon Festival. From 8 to 10 p.m., telescopes will be focused on the moon for public viewing.

* Millennium Moon Festival, Chinatown, Los Angeles, 1-10 p.m. Opening ceremonies will take place at 2 p.m. at the Cathay Bank parking lot at the corner of Alpine and Hill streets. Free. (213) 680-0243.

2 pm: Movies

It may be the shortest film festival on record--only two movies. But Saturday the Southwest Museum will screen a pair of documentaries about the Shoshone Indian tribe and call it the Fifteenth Annual Native American Film Festival. Hyperbole aside, the two films--both directed by Joel L. Freeman and narrated by Robert Redford--are award winners from the San Francisco International Film Festival. “Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain” is a historical review of the battle between Native Americans and the U.S. government over land rights. “To Protect Mother Earth,” a follow-up, documents traditional Shoshone life in Nevada.

* Fifteenth Annual Native American Film Festival, Southwest Museum, Sprague Auditorium, 234 Museum Drive, Mount Washington, 2-4 p.m. $5. (323) 221-2164, Ext. 236.

7 pm: Music

American baritone Jubilant Sykes appears on the season-opening concert of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the event to be conducted by Jeffrey Kahane. Besides songs and arias by Bach, Mozart and Copland, the program will also include Kenneth Frazelle’s Elegy for Strings, Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony and Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony.

* L.A. Chamber Orchestra opens its new season in Royce Hall at UCLA., 7 p.m. $13 to $50. (213) 622-7001, Ext. 215.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

What do the Offspring, TLC, Janet Jackson, Ma$e, Portishead, Smash Mouth, Korn and the Beastie Boys have in common? They’ve all sampled or recorded songs by War in recent years. The Los Angeles groove machine, led by founding member Lonnie Jordan, is marking its 30th anniversary, and you can expect to see some low riders in the Greek Theatre parking lots.

* War, with the Average White Band and Tierra, Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Canyon Road, 7:30 p.m. $25 to $35. (213) 480-3232.

9 pm: Pop Music

Murder, betrayal, curses, nightmares--the dark side of American folk music gets its due from Snakefarm, the duo of singer Anna Domino and her husband Michel Delory. On their album “Songs From My Funeral,” they lure such sing-along staples as “John Henry,” “Tom Dooley” and “Banks of the Ohio” into moody, trip-hop settings.

* Snakefarm, with Fly Seville and Magnetic Fields, Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., 9 p.m. $15. (213) 833-2843.

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FREEBIES: OktoberFest at Farmers Market features a German “oompah” band, Bavarian dancers and an extensive selection of German beers, West 3rd Street at Fairfax Avenue. 2-6 p.m. (323) 933-9211.

“Documental: Documentary and Experimental Film and Video Series” at Midnight Special Bookstore, 1318 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, 7 and 9 p.m. (310) 393-2923.