THE Stroud on Water 2012 Festival splashed out in style at the weekend with a deluge of delights for all ages combining in three days of triple celebration.

The event marked the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the 40th anniversary of the Cotswold Canals Trust, and the Inland Waterways Association’s annual Trailboat Festival, and thousands of revellers turned out for the three days of festivities centred around the Stroudwater canal at Marling School’s Playing Field.

BBC Coast presenter Mark Horton performed the official opening, but a Spitfire fly-past signalling the start of celebrations had to be cancelled due to poor weather.

With the canal open for the first time in over 100 years, over 40 boats attended, and visitors were able to enjoy a range of boat-based trips, competitions and demonstrations.

Meanwhile landlubbers were well catered for with art workshops, vintage cars, a climbing wall, crafts, llama walks and a funfair.

The event also featured dance, poetry and comedy sessions, and there was a cornucopia of music, with headline acts including psychedelic funk outfit Emmett Brown, acoustic and slide guitar from My Name is Earl, and folk rock from Meet on the Ledge.

The three-day extravaganza finished with a bang, with a Jubilee firework display set to music adding the finishing touch to three glorious days of celebration.