Scarlet Sails

Every year in St. Petersburg there is a holiday for graduates — Scarlet Sails. It is organized from 18 to 25 June during the white nights — the shortest night of the year. The show won many international awards, being a kind of visiting card of St. Petersburg, this is one of the most closed holidays of the year. It’s almost impossible to get on it. The main action — a pyrotechnic show, live orchestral music and the passage of a ship along the water area of ​​the Neva river — takes place in the center of the city. Palace Embankment is closed for graduates (admission is by invitation only), Peter and Paul Fortress — for VIPs, Troitsky Bridge is directly involved in the action. One of the scenes is traditionally installed on the Strelka and it is also covered. Only the Exchange bridge remains, from which the pontoons with pyrotechnics merge into one whole. And the Palace Bridge, which they threaten to give to graduates, but are often opened for ordinary spectators. Of course, 2 bridges are very small for a multimillion-dollar city and for visiting tourists. Those who wish to see a ship with scarlet sails from the front rows should take their seats a few hours before the start of the event (no later than from 17.00). It is also necessary to take into account that the density of the crowd is very high, so that after 22.00 it will be almost impossible to get out of it, and the action begins only at one in the morning. So, if you are ready to stand for several hours on the bridge in the middle of the Petersburg wind, you can see this wonderful sight. There is, of course, another option — to find a panoramic restaurant, a roof, a place on a ship, etc. But in all these cases, it will be expensive and it is not a fact that you will actually see something (see fireworks in the distance and without ship — it does not count, it’s easy) 

This summer of 2021 we were very lucky: the ship, brig Russia under scarlet sails was anchored for a week in front of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Of course, not all these days the ship was under sail — they were folded either because of the weather or for other reasons! And in this sense, we are doubly lucky. So this little shoot was born quite spontaneously. Scarlet sails are a dream and a symbol of hope, both in the story of the same name and in the real world.