The River Pageant on the Thames was replicated in miniature form in one village as it hosted a flotilla of small wooden boats on its pond.
Schoolchildren in Goudhurst, Kent - population 3,200 - decorated 300 tiny boats and floated them on the village pond against the backdrop of an intricate model of the Houses of Parliament.
The striking 30ft-long structure reached 14ft at its highest point - Big Ben - and has taken a team four weeks to build in a barn using laser-cut plywood.
Despite the rain, villagers young and old turned out in their hundreds to witness the individually-decorated boats take to the water, pushed along by electric wind generators based on the water's edge.
Around the village bunting was hung out, tables laid on for food and drink, home-made cakes baked and a big screen erected in the hall to watch live television coverage of events in London and around the UK.
Opposite the village pond, the social club pumped out party music and a pop-up gazebo was laid on for people to shelter from the drizzle as locals devoured barbecued food.
Despite the gloomy weather, Richard Hillier, chairman of the Goudhurst Diamond Jubilee Committee, said: "We're British, so we are used to the rain. It doesn't bother us.
"Everyone is going to have a great time and have a bank holiday to remember. We had a fantastic 50s themed night the evening before where everyone had a fantastic time and we continue today."
Visitor Steve Fox, 43, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, said: "It's a superb community event. Everyone is in a good mood and has got a smile on their face, and it's nice to see.
"I'm not much of a royalist but I think it's right we mark the jubilee. It's a superb achievement, both for the Queen and for our country. Things wouldn't be same in this country without her."
The idea for the model Parliament creation came after the village's jubilee committee members were leafing through a book 71-year-old local Bill Musgrave wrote to mark the turn of the millennium.
Inside the book were pictures of another replica Houses of Parliament built in the village to celebrate the Queen's coronation in 1953, and from that came the idea to reproduce it for the Diamond Jubilee.
Peter Hoskins, 56, said: "I've never seen anything like it. It's just so life-like. It's a brilliant bit of work."
The jubilee committee is keen to hold a competition for ideas on where it should be located after the jubilee celebrations in exchange for donations to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.