42. Scarlet Sails
The Scarlet Sails celebration is apparently the largest annual public gathering in Russia, attracting over a million people each year according to some estimates, and allegedly more than 3 million people in recent years. It's nominally supposed to be a celebration for graduates (mostly the high school graduating class, although college graduates also participate). Only a very small percentage of the people there fell into that category; most of the spectators were locals and tourists (including Russians from other parts of the country). The celebration usually falls on a Saturday night on the weekend immediately preceding or following the solstice, although this year it was moved to a Friday night to avoid a schedule conflict with the Confederations Cup match the next day.
The celebration takes its name and inspiration from a children's book by Alexander Grin first published in the 1920s. The highlight is a tall ship with bright crimson sails that sails into the Neva River. This event was first held in the 1960s, took a number of years off, and then began again in the early 2000s. It has grown into a huge celebration that everyone looks forward to each year.
Graduates who purchase a ticket can enjoy musical performances in the Palace Square or on the Petrograd Side. Everyone else can enjoy the fireworks and ship entrance from a variety of vantage points at either side of the Neva River. Most of my colleagues have been to Scarlet Sails at least a few times, but otherwise steer clear of the event due to the crowds and the apparently unruly drunken behavior in the later morning hours. I didn't go into any bars or clubs, and saw no evidence of especially bad behavior in the streets (other than an old drunk man urinating on a tree).
I walked around for about an hour before I found the perfect (and still available) spot to watch the event. I was about one-third of the way across the Dvortsoviy Bridge toward Vasilyevsky Island. I was on the western edge of the bridge, standing atop the concrete embankment at the side of the roadway. This afforded me decent views east over the heads of the hundreds of people between me and the central flow of the Neva between the Dvortsoviy and Troitskiy bridges. I staked my claim at 10:15 pm and then waited until around 12:40 am for the show to start. I think this was one of the better publicly-accessible vantage points. Those who purchased tickets had much better views and took some great videos.
The fireworks were launched from barges anchored in the middle of the river and lasted for around 30 minutes, with a music and light show accompaniment. During the last 10 minutes, the ship with the scarlet sails came through the open Troitskiy bridge, sailed to the central area between the two bridges, and made several rotations before sailing back out to the northern channel of the Neva (the Malaya Neva River). This kind of ship is a sight to behold in normal circumstances and it was amazing to see with a full complement of bright red sails and explosions and smoke filling the sky.
When the show was complete, I joined the crush of humanity back to the city center and walked around for about 75 minutes, enjoying people-watching and the numerous street performers in the middle of the closed-down Nevsky Prospekt. Scarlet Sails was quite a fun culmination of the White Nights season.
The celebration takes its name and inspiration from a children's book by Alexander Grin first published in the 1920s. The highlight is a tall ship with bright crimson sails that sails into the Neva River. This event was first held in the 1960s, took a number of years off, and then began again in the early 2000s. It has grown into a huge celebration that everyone looks forward to each year.
Graduates who purchase a ticket can enjoy musical performances in the Palace Square or on the Petrograd Side. Everyone else can enjoy the fireworks and ship entrance from a variety of vantage points at either side of the Neva River. Most of my colleagues have been to Scarlet Sails at least a few times, but otherwise steer clear of the event due to the crowds and the apparently unruly drunken behavior in the later morning hours. I didn't go into any bars or clubs, and saw no evidence of especially bad behavior in the streets (other than an old drunk man urinating on a tree).
I walked around for about an hour before I found the perfect (and still available) spot to watch the event. I was about one-third of the way across the Dvortsoviy Bridge toward Vasilyevsky Island. I was on the western edge of the bridge, standing atop the concrete embankment at the side of the roadway. This afforded me decent views east over the heads of the hundreds of people between me and the central flow of the Neva between the Dvortsoviy and Troitskiy bridges. I staked my claim at 10:15 pm and then waited until around 12:40 am for the show to start. I think this was one of the better publicly-accessible vantage points. Those who purchased tickets had much better views and took some great videos.
The fireworks were launched from barges anchored in the middle of the river and lasted for around 30 minutes, with a music and light show accompaniment. During the last 10 minutes, the ship with the scarlet sails came through the open Troitskiy bridge, sailed to the central area between the two bridges, and made several rotations before sailing back out to the northern channel of the Neva (the Malaya Neva River). This kind of ship is a sight to behold in normal circumstances and it was amazing to see with a full complement of bright red sails and explosions and smoke filling the sky.
When the show was complete, I joined the crush of humanity back to the city center and walked around for about 75 minutes, enjoying people-watching and the numerous street performers in the middle of the closed-down Nevsky Prospekt. Scarlet Sails was quite a fun culmination of the White Nights season.
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