Queen's Diamond Jubilee to be "party of a lifetime"

(CBS/AP) LONDON - There will be no shortage of parties in London in the next 12 months, but chief among them will be the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee next June.

Buckingham Palace says a concert, a river pageant, a church service and a nationwide Sunday lunch will help mark the occasion next year.

Pictures: The queen through the years

Pictures: The queen at 85
Special section: The royal wedding

The celebration of the queen's 60 years on the throne will include grand spectacle and community events over a long weekend on June 2-5, 2012.

Details announced Thursday include a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, a carriage procession, a 1,000-boat flotilla on the River Thames, a televised concert at the palace and a "Big Jubilee Sunday Lunch'," a variation on the local street parties that marked the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29.

The monarch, a keen horse-racing fan, also will attend the Epsom Derby.

The river pageant is designed to resemble those of the 17th and 18th centuries with the monarch traveling in a special Royal Barge, a sort of "coach on water," while a trumpet fanfare plays in the background. A floating belfry with eight new bells will follow the Royal Barge with its peals echoed by riverbank churches along the route.

Between 30,000 to 40,000 people will be on the river during the event, which will take place on June 3. The river flotilla will finish at Tower Bridge. More than one million people are expected to line the banks of the Thames for the "once in a lifetime party."

The queen, who turned 85 in April, took the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI.