Wiltshire in pics: Shindigs and a princess visit

Shindig Festival, which started on Thursday, has launched at a new site

Summer events are well and truly under way in Wiltshire now - with a return of a much-loved festival.

TV presenter Steve Backshall is also staying in the county all week to delight children with his animal knowledge at Longleats.

Other highlights include actress Joanna Lumley supporting a local animal centre, and another local charity enjoyed a royal visit.

Wildlife wanderings: Wiltshire's wildlife has been making more of an appearance recently - one Weather Watcher, Jo C, captured this swan family in Devizes.

Festival time: Shindig has launched at Charlton Park in Wiltshire - the former home of Womad - after spending 10 years in Ilminster, Somerset. The 2025 line up is a "global celebration of rhythm and culture where afrobeat meets electronic, reggae meets soul, funk meets industrial rap", organisers said. The event started on Thursday and runs until Sunday.

Animal antics: Longleat has TV presenter Steve Backshall in to do daily talks at the safari park over half term week. He will not be on his own though - a range of animals and birds will be introduced to the audience and nobody knows how they will behave. Last year, the shows raised £25,000 for conservation charity Tusk.

Royal approval: Wiltshire-based charity Horatio's Garden has released pictures of their patron Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie visiting their garden at Salisbury District Hospital. She spoke to patients, staff and volunteers and planted a grapevine for the charity, which creates the gardens at the UK's spinal injury centres to help people recover.

Horsing around: Wiltshire Police has been represented at the Royal Windsor Horse Show for the first time. The force revealed pictures of its competitors: Laura Hughes from the Local Policing Tasking Team, Hollie Clark, Financial Investigator and Rachael Fairbain from Complex Fraud all took part in the Services Team Jumping competition.

Daredevils: The White Horse Soapbox Race in Westbury got some big crowds. It includes a STEM fair and a lot of different teams competing to make the fastest vehicle. A team from the South Western Ambulance Service got involved too, making their own contraption.

Prestige: Devizes Bowls Club has hosted a prestigious inter-county competition, part of the early stages of the Balcomb Trophy. It's the first time the club has hosted a competition this big.

Immerse yourself: a shipping container is arriving in the middle of Salisbury this weekend, in Guildhall Square. It's for an immersive theatre experience run by producers Darkfield. It's part of the Salisbury International Arts Festival and those who go in for the experience, called FLIGHT, will find themselves in what looks exactly like the inside of a plane and two realities.

Celebrity moment: The Cat Watch Rescue Centre based in Salisbury, which takes in strays and abandoned animals, revealed they had received a donation from Dame Joanna Lumley, who sent a handwritten note.

Bumper crop: the strawberries are already doing well this year, so the pick your own farms are opening up, including this one at Lotmead in Swindon.