Related Story: The Diroccos: Early San Pedro settlers built fishing industry into town’s legacy

San Pedro isn’t a city anymore.

But this weekend it’s going to party like one.

Community leaders are pulling out all the stops with a Motown-style concert Friday night followed by a two-day street festival to mark 125 years since San Pedro became its own city.

San Pedro’s cityhood — dating from March 1, 1888 — didn’t last, of course. Twenty-one years later, the town voted to be swept into the city of Los Angeles, where it has remained ever since despite dreams of a future secession.

Through it all, San Pedro has remained fiercely independent.

The 125th birthday extravaganza planned Saturday and Sunday is a chance to celebrate the town’s colorful heritage — from the port’s old wooden fishing docks to the quaint downtown shopping district.

And while there will be plenty of activities highlighting the town’s storied past, including walking tours, this celebration largely is one that also looks forward as it showcases San Pedro’s deep roots and colorful, multigenerational cultural mix.

Billed as the L.A. Waterfront Summer Festival (Celebrating 125 Years), the event is designed to bring more visitors into the historic downtown as San Pedro positions itself to become a tourist destination.

After a decade of work to improve the town’s waterfront, San Pedro saw what seemed like its big break last summer, when the USS Iowa and Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles arrived, generating widespread publicity.

But it’s not there yet, despite signs of progress.

Ideas on how to re-create Ports O’ Call Village for a new generation, meanwhile, are expected to begin to take shape by the end of this year as other waterfront beautification improvements move forward.

This weekend’s street party — two blocks of Sixth Street between Pacific Avenue and Centre Street will be closed to traffic on both Saturday (11 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) — also builds on last summer’s hugely popular “Swinging Salute” event held on Sixth to welcome the Iowa and downtown’s new overhead decorative lights.

“The downtown is looking great; there are new lights going in on Pacific Avenue and new landscaping,” said Valerie Goodman, marketing director for the San Pedro Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District, which is sponsoring the festival. “We really want all of our businesses to do more business, and we want more businesses to come in to the town to see that it’s clean and it’s safe.”

Leading up to the L.A. Waterfront Summer Festival will be the town’s regular First Thursday and a Tribute to Motown concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. Sixth St. (Tickets are $35.)

The two-day L.A. Waterfront Summer Festival — admission to that is free — will feature two stages for live music and other entertainment, carnival rides, Radio Disney, a craft beer-tasting competition, arts and crafts, open galleries, cash-prize drawings and vendors.

For those interested in the port’s history, members of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society will give presentations in the Grand Annex at 434 W. Sixth St. on the town’s archives and on the Hollywood connection to San Pedro, where so many feature films and television programs have been shot.

A walking tour of the themed displays the society has installed in shop windows throughout the downtown district also will be offered.

Outdoor dining will be available and all of the area’s restaurants and stores will be open for business.

“I hope people come ready to have some fun and to meet their neighbors,” Goodman said. “Be comfortable, wear tennis shoes, shorts and a tank top and stay through the day and into the evening.”