Hay Festival 2012: James Watson and Ian McEwan talk science The Hay Festival, which will be celebrating its 25th year, takes place from 31 May to 10 June. Tim Minchin will be opening the festival with a concert on Friday 1 June at 9.30pm. Booker Prize-winning author Hilary Mantel will be in conversation with Hay Festival Director Peter Florence about Bring Up The Bodies, her sequel to Wolf Hall. Among the other new acts announced today is actor Simon Callow, who will give a talk on Charles Dickens to celebrate the bicentenary of the author's birth. Callow's talk - Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World - takes place on Sunday 10th June. Also appearing will be baritone Bryn Terfel, who will be at the Barclays Wealth Pavilion on Friday 8 June. The Welsh opera singer recently opened the season in La Scala as Leporello in Don Giovanni. The Hay Festival has also announced its 2012 Schools Programme. For details of the Telegraph Hay Festival and to join the mailing list - see the Hay Festival website.