The 12th Festival of the Horse gets underway in the Scottish Borders today.
The ten day festival is a celebration of all things equine and includes a large number of events for both spectators and riders including horse trials, displays and endurance rides.
Several guided rides are held across a number of days and are a highlight of the festival calendar.
Some of the events today include:
“Horse Drawn, Drawn Horse” Exhibition of the Horse
Floors Castle Horse Trials Burghley Young Event Horse Classes
Guided Ride from Bowhill, Selkirk
Guided Ride from Lanton, Jedburgh
For more information on the festival including information on how you can get involved, visit the website here.
Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway is Scotland's National Book Town, it boasts sixteen full time book shops and this weekend a book festival involving nearly 200 events.
There are authors and events for adults and children, including Natalie Haynes, Douglas Hurd, James Kelman, Jon Ronson, John Simpson, Alexander McCall Smith, Marina Warner and AN Wilson.
Dizee Rascal, James and Maximo Park are just three of the internationally acclaimed acts that will be appearing in the Lake District this weekend as part of the Kendal Calling festival. The event is taking place at Lowther Deer Park.
While over in the West, the Maryport Blues Festival provides classic blues music from some of the UK's top acts including The Rebel Rousers, Debbie Davies and Chris Farlowe.
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and other partners are reminding people going to the Wickerman festival of the dangers of over indulgence substance misuse.
In particular consuming excess alcohol and the perils of New Psychoactive substances.
Inspector Amanda Scott , Community Safety Inspector, Galloway Division says:
“We do recognise that the Wickerman Festival 2012 is a family festival however it would be amiss of us if we and our partners did not alert the public about the significant dangers of the over indulgence of substance use. We have seen elsewhere of the horrific consequences that are apparent and along with the Wickerman festival organisers we would like to ensure Wickerman 2012 is enjoyable experience for all”
Jedburgh Callants Festival day gets underway this morning.
At around 8.30am this years Callant (the leader of the ride) will take the flag and exclaim 'Jethart's here', before leading the cavalcade through the town.
Hundreds of horses and riders will take part in the event, which dates back to 1947.
As well as hosting today's festival workshop, final preparations are underway for the 11th Wickerman Festival which starts on July 20th. Inspired by the 1970s movie of the same name that was filmed in Dumfries and Galloway, it's grown into one of the best attended small festivals in the country.
The Wickerman, before burning, in 2009 Credit: Wickerman Festival
The man behind the hugely successful Wickerman Festival is sharing his experiences with others hoping to follow in his footsteps. Farmer Jamie Gilroy is hosting the festival workshop near Dundrennan to help those looking to start a new event. He's hoping to inspire others to diversify like he did.
