Queen's Diamond Jubilee Weekend 2012: Full list of Events and Celebrations [VIDEOS]

From 2-5 June, much of the country will celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee as she toasts her 60-year-reign.

An extended bank holiday weekend will give royalists the chance to get out the bunting and party on, with many communities great and small gathering to hold their own events.

Having already celebrated her 25-year silver jubilee in 1977 and her golden jubilee in 2002, this year's diamond jubilee looks set to be the biggest celebration ever of Queen Elizabeth II's years on the throne.

Preparations have been firmly put in place for the celebrations, including Scotland Yard organising the largest ever royal security operation for the Jubilee flotilla on 3 June.

If you are still undecided how to celebrate the diamond jubilee, IB Times UK has put together this comprehensive list of all the official events which will be taking place on each day of the four-day long celebration of the Queen's reign.

Saturday 2 June

The official celebrations for the diamond jubilee will begin at the Epsom Derby, where the Queen is scheduled to attend. Opera singer Katherine Jenkins will also sing the National Anthem prior to the race.

More information can be found here

If it's fun for the whole family you are after, then you should take them down to Hyde Park Jubilee Family Festival, which will continue through to Sunday.

Hosted by Myleene Class and John Culshaw, the two-day festival will feature a huge selection of live music and entertainment with performances by the stars of Strictly Come Dancing and London's West End, as well as children's characters such as Thomas The Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Angelina Ballerina.

Both nights will end with a special Disney concert created just for the Jubilee celebrations.

More information can be found here.

Sunday 3 June

The Big Lunch is a nationwide get-together for neighbours in your community. Thousands of street lunches are being organised across the UK, with certain roads purposely being closed off to commemorate the event.

At 12.30pm, London's Piccadilly Big Jubilee Lunch street party will lead the UK in singing the National Anthem to celebrate the diamond jubilee, with organisers hoping other street parties all over the UK will join in at the same time.

With local councils receiving almost 9,500 road closure applications, this year's event looks set to be the biggest ever.

Check your local area to see if any Big Lunches are held in your community or check the Big Lunch website to see how you can get involved.

One of the biggest and most spectacular events will be the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, as a 1,000-strong flotilla of boats are set to cruise down the river and pass all 13 of central London's river crossings - including Tower Bridge and Battersea Bridge.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the royal family, will travel in the royal barge as a centrepiece of the flotilla. The Spirit of Chartwell will set off from near Albert Bridge at 2:30pm.

More than 13,000 police and security officials will line the Thames. The security operation has been 18 months in the planning and described as bigger than that surrounding last year's royal wedding.

If you want to see the parade, a number of viewing spaces with limited spaces will be set up along the river along with large viewing screens, locations of which can be found here.

While the ships sail majestically by during the pageant, there will be a large party at the Battersea Park Diamond Jubilee Festival, featuring an array of jubilee-themed music, entertainment and activities.

Curated by Clare Patey and Wayne Hemmingway, the ticket only event will feature music from artists such as The Noisettes and the Urban Soul Orchestra as well as festival fun including a hairdressing salon offering 1950s-style makeover and a three-metre high cake of the Queen. Tickets and information for the festival can be found here.

Monday 4 June

The highlight of the first bank holiday is the BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace. Featuring a host of famous musical artists such as Shirley Bassey, Elton John, Tom Jones and Paul McCartney, the historic concert will be staged at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace and will start at 7:30.

Ten thousand tickets for the event have already been distributed via national ballot but the event will be broadcast live on BBC1, BBC1 HD and Radio 2, as well as on big screens in Hyde Park, St James's Park and The Mall.

Another event which will look to bring the whole of the UK together will be the lighting of the Jubilee Beacons.

More than 4,000 beacons will be lit across the UK and other commonwealth countries, starting off in Tonga in the Pacific, and culminating in the Queen lighting the national beacon on the Mall at 10.30pm. Notable areas where beacons will be lit up in the UK include the top of the four highest peaks in the country.

Full list of areas in the UK taking part in the lighting of a beacon can be found here.

Tuesday 5 June

The final day of the diamond jubilee celebrations will end with a series of celebrations in central London, including a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral and lunch at Westminster Hall, attended by the Queen.

After this, the royal family will travel from Westminster to Buckingham Palace by carriage, with thousands of people expected to line the route of the journey.

A balcony appearance at the palace is then due to take place by the royal family as well as an RAF flyby.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee 2012: Alternative Guide to the Weekend's Events