Festivals and international events are excellent motivations for tourists to travel, many international festivals in the world make people travel to foreign countries as well. Most international festivals happen during summers because many of these festivals take place in the open air, and the weather is more pleasant and predictable in the summers. One of the biggest summer festivals of Europe is the White Night Festival, which happens during the summer in the northern countries, such as Russia.
White Night Festival was the invention of the mayor of St. Petersburg in 1992 when he decided to celebrate the nights between the end of May until the end of July with music and art performances. During this period, the city of St. Petersburg never gets dark, even throughout the nights. Though the White Night Festival’s origin comes from St. Petersburg, this festival has been celebrated all over Russia, and even in some northern countries as well, but the main events still take place in St. Petersburg. The White Night Festival also coincides with the end of the school year in Russia, which all the students in Russia celebrate with fireworks and street parties.
As we said, the main events still take place in St. Petersburg since the original festival was held there for the first time, but many major cities in Russia, such as Moscow, have loads of program and event planned for these nights, as many people from around the world travel to these cities to celebrate this phenomenon together.
While the main festival, where internationally famous artists and band perform their art for the people, happens in three nights somewhere between June and July, but from the end of May until the end of July, many street parties, ballet shows, street concerts, and celebrations occur all over the city, all the nights; so while the main festival is roughly for only three nights, the show goes on for over a month.
The main event of the White Night Festival belongs to music concerts since this festival mainly identifies as a music festival. Various artists of different genres, including rock, classical, jazz, and pop, fly to Russia from all around the world to perform in this festival. Several legendary bands and artists have played on the stages of this festival, including Scorpions, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and many others. Keep this in mind, that many artists will perform in this festival throughout this time (not only the main three nights of the White Night Festival) in St. Petersburg and other major cities of Russia.
Besides the music concerts, ballets and operas get a lot of attention from the people. Several performances occur all over the city throughout the festival, but the most significant shows happen in the Mariinsky Theatre and Concert Hall. The other prominent performance happens in Peterhof, a suburb of St. Petersburg, where several artists dress up as famous figures from Russian history and re-create notable moments in Russian history for the visitors in the form of theater, operas, and ballet shows. These sets of performances, which are famous as the Stars of the Nights, usually runs from the last week of May to the second half of July.
All of these performances bring lots of tourists to this city, but one of the significant events during this festival is the street parties and galas, which begin early in the night and last until the dawn. During these nights, DJs and musicians do their best to create some magical moments for people in the street and clubs throughout the festival. The nightlife is a new aspect in Russia, most clubs and discos only exist for around twenty years, but these nights have helped cities like St. Petersburg to adapt to the nightlife much better and quicker.
After all of the fun, one thing that everyone from children to adults is waiting for at the end of this festival is the Scarlet Sails celebration, which is one of the most famous public events of the White Night Festival in the city. The 'Scarlet Sails' is a tradition that first started in 1968 when several schools in Leningrad united to celebrate the end of the school year together; though the tradition has been held in Russia long before 1968, it has become bolder and more popular after the release of the Scarlet Sails movie in 1961. The reason behind the popularity of this event is mostly because this event features remarkable fireworks and massive shows regarding the end of the school year. When this celebration listed as one of the major events of the White Night Festival, it even became considerably more popular. The 'Scarlet Sails' event had more than three million attendees in 2010.
As it’s obvious, this is the best time for the tourists to visit St. Petersburg, and Russia overall. This period has it all, everything from extraordinary events, entertainment, pleasure, pleasant weather, fun carnivals and more; that’s why we, at the Star Travel Group, recommend the White Night Festival as the best time for tourists to travel to St. Petersburg; besides all these events and fun activities, there are several foods and drinks festivals take place in Russia during the White Night Festival, so be sure to check all the events before you book your flight to St. Petersburg, because every night is different from the other, and all of them are fun. If you need any more information about White Night Festival, St. Petersburg, or Russia, you can check our weblog, one of our travel guides, such as Trip to St. Petersburg, or talk to our specialists at Star Travel Group.
