The city of St. Petersburg in Russia has a long history and many annual festivals. Such is the ‘Scarlet Sails’ which is held for the youth who are entering their adulthood after finishing their school season. It is considered as one of the most spectacular festivals in the world, attracting tens of thousands of local and foreign tourists to St. Petersburg every year.
Legend states that the first Scarlet Festival, held in June 1968, was the brainchild of Russian author Alexander Grin.
This was founded when several schools in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), after World War II, had organised events to commemorate the end of the school year, as noted in his 1923 book, ‘ Scarlet Sails’.
Set against a popular fairy tale in Russian literature, Alexander’s most famous work, The Scarlet Sails, is set in a small fishing village. Long Green, who had been a sailor for some time after the death of his beloved wife, took care of his daughter, Azol, on a meagre income from the sale of wooden carved toy boats.
Assol
As a young girl, Assol met an old man who claimed to be a sorcerer and predicted that one day a prince from a ship with scarlet sails will take her away. Although the villagers mocked her, she believed that what the old witch had said would one day come true.
Arthur Gray, the son of a cruel nobleman, fled with the intention of becoming a sailor in the face of his father’s protests, and soon became the captain of a merchant ship.
One day, while his ship was anchored in the village of Assol, he fell in love with a lovely girl who was sleeping in a nearby forest, and the story ended with Arthur learning of the villagers’ dream of a prince coming from a ship with scarlet sails.
The purpose of the Scarlet Sail Festival is to encourage young people who are finishing school, as Assol did in Alexandra’s fairy tale, to pursue their dreams and make them come true.
Schooling
It has become a tradition to hold the ‘Scarlet Sail Festival’ every year during the ‘White Night Festival’ which is held in June with the participation of nearly 25, 000 young people who have completed their schooling for the first time. However, the Festival was discontinued in 1979 and re-launched in 2005.
Today, the Scarlet Sail Festival consists of two main parts. It starts with a massive concert in one area. After that there will be a spectacular show on the banks of the Neva River. Although only school graduates are able to attend the concert, a stage is set up on a nearby island for other visitors.
The spectacular fireworks and water show, usually held on the banks of the Neva River, begins just after midnight.
It lasts about 20-30 minutes. It takes place in the middle of a beautiful ship with red sails amidst melodious music. It uses the Swedish ship ‘Troy Kroner’, which was built during World War II. Statistics show that around 2-3 million local and foreign tourists flock to St. Petersburg every year to watch the Festival.