Jubilee «Scarlet sails»!

«Beginning» is the main theme of the festival of St. Petersburg graduates, which celebrated its jubilee 50th birthday this year.  

«Hello, St. Petersburg! Good evening, Russia », — with these words began a concert at the Palace Square, which traditionally opens the Scarlet Sails Festival. The Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Olga Vasilieva, Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko and the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, Vyacheslav Makarov, greeted the graduates. The traditional striking of the shipʼs bell ended the official part of the festival. 

On a huge stage, built by the arch of the General Headquarters of the Army, a colorful action unfolded, the concept of which fits into one short word «Beginning». Motivational video clips explained this concept: start, dreams, values, generations, opportunities. Unobtrusive talk about serious matters did not compete with the show (director — Alexei Golubev). «The Scarlet Sails», besides playing a strong social role, is, above all, a beautiful festival. The festive mood was created by the show stars Marie Kraymbrury, Malbek & Suzanne, Cast group, ALEKSEEV, Quest Pistols Show, Victoria Daineko and Alsou, Artem Pivovarov, ST rapper, My Michelle. And the hits of rapper Basta (the headliner of the concert) were amicably sung by the whole square.

Add to this energetic performance of the hosts Ivan Urgant and Daria Alexandrova, magnificent dancing of the ballet «Todes» and instantaneous transformations of the glittering stage.

This year there were three stages instead of just one, designed by the artist Alexander Kudryavtsev. And this made it possible for a large number of spectators to get closer to the action. For sure, many graduates will remember the moment when they were asked to wave to a camera flying over them to let their parents know that they were at the festival venue and everything was fine.

After the concert the participants of «the Scarlet Sails» relocated from the Palace Square to the water area of ​​the Neva River. A quick «flight» through the halls of the Hermitage, in the interiors of which beautiful dancers danced, recalled the 200th anniversary of the great Marius Petipa. After all, St. Petersburg is the birthplace of the Russian classical dance. Choreographic program with ballet dancers (directed by Ilya Zhivoy) was made in a variety of styles: from classical to modern. It perfectly fit the «scenery» of a beautiful city, whether it be the walls of the Peter and Paul Cathedral or the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. The greatness of St. Petersburg was glorified by the language of movements. Each of the performance concealed the allegory of the recognizable city symbols- a boat on top of the Admiralty and an angel on the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The solemnity was given by live symphonic music. On the improvised stage by the Stock Exchange building, the Festino chamber choir and the joint orchestra «Strings of Petersburg» of the Jazz Philharmonic Hall as well as the Olympic Brass Orchestra (musical director — Igor Zalivalov) performed. Consonant with the main theme of the festival — «Beginning» — was a song performed by a young singer Grisha Turkin to the poetry of R. Rozhdestvensky, which is called «The Beginning». 

The main symbol of the festival is the Swedish brig «Tre Kronor», the appearance of which is always awaited with bated breath by millions of people on the banks of the Neva. «The Scarlet Sails» canʼt be imagined without the solemn sounds of «the Hymn to the Great City». 

This year, in connection with the World Cup held in St. Petersburg, the concept of fireworks was slightly changed. For security reasons they didnʼt install pyrotechnic towers on the Trinity Bridge, as they usually do. However, this did not affect the show at all. Waterfalls and comets of all shades and colors painted the sky over St. Petersburg. It lasted for 21 minutes, 50,000 shells were set off and over a hundred pyrotechnic pictures appeared in the sky including the inscription: «The Scarlet Sails-50» (the art director of the pyrotechnic show is Dmitry Orlikov).

More than 80,000 people traditionally gather at the Palace Square. Among them there are not only graduates of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. This year visitors from 34 regions of Russia and such foreign countries as Armenia, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Serbia and Estonia arrived to the northern capital. The festival «Scarlet Sails-2018» was organized by the Channel 5 and Joint-Stock Bank «RUSSIA» for them and for their sake.

A large television audience, who chose to watch Channel 5 that evening, had the opportunity to see the festival in real time. Circular panoramic shooting in 3D from five different points, a cableway for special equipment on Vasilievsky Island, the variety of equipment involved and the harmonious work of the professional team made it possible to make the picture alive and voluminous.

Since 2017, the event can be followed over the Internet on the web page of Channel 5 and on the official pages in social networks. This year Channel 5 for the first time could offer a live broadcast of the festival to the residents of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan (Roman Butovsky is the broadcast director).

«The Scarlet Sails», which celebrated its 50th anniversary, is still aimed to the future. That is why the final chord of the festival was the song of a young captain, performed by a 12-year-old Rutger Garecht.