Some Tips for Lighting Up the Holiday

From Hollywood to the sea, the Westside will celebrate Independence Day this weekend with parades, concerts, fireworks displays and other festivities.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra will give three concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Fireworks will follow each concert. Tickets required; (213) 850-2000.

Santa Monica College will present its annual “Celebrate America” show Saturday, featuring entertainment and fireworks. Music starts at 5 p.m. at the college’s Corsair Field, 1900 Pico Blvd. Derek & the Diamonds, a rhythm-and-blues group, and Spectrum, an Air Force band, will perform. Fireworks will begin around 9:30. Admission is free; (310) 452-9396.

A daylong celebration of the Fourth in Pacific Palisades will start with a 5K and 10K run sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce at 8 a.m. Sunday at Palisades Recreation Center. The annual parade starts at 2 p.m., with talk show host Michael Jackson serving as grand marshal. Palisades residents Bud and Lorie Petrick will be parade marshals, and John Raitt will be on hand as the honorary mayor for the day. Spectators along Via de la Paz, Sunset Boulevard and Drummond Street can watch the parade as it travels from Via de La Paz and Bowdoin Street to the Palisades Library. Fireworks will follow at dusk at Palisades High School. Information: (310) 459-7963.

West Hollywood will celebrate the holiday Sunday with its fourth annual “A Day in the Park” from 2 to 8 p.m. at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. There will be game booths, music, costumed cartoon characters and a jazz performance by the Walter Davis Group. A fire engine and Sheriff’s Department squad car will also be displayed. No admission charge. (310) 854-7460.

The skies will light up in Marina del Rey, where the fireworks start at 9 p.m. Sunday.

A less traditional observance of the Fourth will take place in Venice: the annual muscle contest, starting at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Venice Beach Recreation Center, 1800 Ocean Front Walk. There is a $20 registration fee for participants; admission is free for spectators. (310) 399-2775.

One reminder: All fireworks, including the “safe and sane” variety, are illegal in all Westside cities and unincorporated areas unless they are used by a professional pyrotechnist who operates with a city permit.

Free Public Fireworks Displays:

Saturday:

* Santa Monica College, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, about 9:30 p.m.

Sunday:

* Marina del Rey Harbor, 9 p.m.

* Palisades High School, 15777 Bowdoin St., Pacific Palisades, dusk.

Other holiday events:

* Santa Monica: The Folk Dance Federation of California will perform the music and dances of many cultures; Lincoln Park, California Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard, 1 p.m. Sunday; information: (310) 277-6699 (free).

* Beverly Hills: The Recreation and Parks Department will provide music, pony rides and other entertainment Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Roxbury Park, 471 S. Roxbury Drive; information: (310) 550-4761 (free concert, $2 pony rides).