One of the best ways for governments to increase income and grow their economy is to invest in the tourism industry. Many countries in the world have spent a lot in their tourism industry in recent years, and many others have been doing this for a long time. Russia is one of the countries that has been spending in this industry for the last two decades and has been successfully brought tourists to Russia so far since millions of tourists have traveled to Russia in recent years. One of the main plans to bring tourists to the country is to hold international festivals, which you can find several of them in Russia throughout the year, but since the tourist destination cities in Russia are mostly cold during the second half of the year, most of these festivals are occurring during the summer. That’s why summer tours to Russia are more popular among tourists, and travel agencies have been operating most of their Russia tours during summers.
We at the Star Travel Company, same as other travel agencies, are trying to offer the best options to our tourists who have plans to travel to Russia, both during summers or winters, but we recommend summer tours to our travelers since travel to Russia in summertime is more pleasant for people who have never been to Russia before. One of the best tours that we at the Star Travel Company can offer our travelers is the White Night tour to Russia, which happens in the summer.
The term ‘White Nights’ refers to a period when the sun will never fully set around both north and south poles. This natural phenomenon, which is also called the midnight sun, occurs during the summertime in the north of Arctic Circle and south of Antarctic Circle. The story behind this event is that due to the latitude of these places, you can witness the sun in the night sky, and at the night of summer solstice, the sun remains visible all night long. Many countries in the north of Arctic Circle have been experiencing this phenomenon throughout the summer, including Russia, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and part of the USA, and most of them celebrate this event throughout the summer and particularly on the night of summer solstice, however, St. Petersburg celebrates this phenomenon to a whole another level.
One of the largest festivals in Russia is the St. Petersburg White Night Festival, which is a celebration of numerous cultural events, including ballet performances, music concerts, opera nights, and other forms of art performances in St. Petersburg. Throughout the festival, many Russian and St. Petersburg home-grown artists would perform for the public alongside multiple globally known names in various stages in St. Petersburg. Though these performances would hit several stages all over St. Petersburg, the White Night Festival mostly refers to The Stars of the White Nights, which is a two-months-long schedule of operas, Russian ballet, classical music concerts, and other forms of performing arts and concerts held in the significant Hermitage Theatre, Mariinsky Theater, and Conservatoire Theater.
Although these events can be a little bit different each year, the Stars of the White Nights usually has been started with lesser-known works and lesser-known homegrown Russian artists as an opening act in the festival; as we get closer to the midsummer, the names and performances get more famous until the night of the summer solstice, which brings all the international names and famous Russian artists to the stages of St. Petersburg. If you have plans to travel to Russia during summertime, we at the Star Travel Company recommend taking a trip to St. Petersburg near the midsummer if you don’t mind the crowded city and all-night-long parties.
One of the advantages of the White Night Festival for those who love to wander in the museum all the time is the Museums Night, which is an event where several museums of St. Petersburg open their doors to people from the evening until the six o'clock in the morning. However, some of the museums will only be open until midnight, but most of them will let visitors enter until 6 A.M. In the recent years, several museums have participated in Museum Night, including Museum of History of Religion, Museum of Dolls, Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad, Sheremetev Palace, Museum of Political History, but if you want to know which museum will be participating in the coming year, you should check out the tour to Russia programs or ask tour leaders about it. Keep it in mind that large museums that need to have high-security measures, such as the Hermitage and the Faberge Museum are unlikely to participate in the Museum Night event. This event is perfect for people who do not want to waste any of their valuable time on travel to Russia in sleep because no matter how much time you spend in Russia, it always seems like you don't have enough time to try everything on your tour to Russia, especially on a trip to St. Petersburg.
While the Stars of the White Nights and the Museum Night are the main parts of the White Night Festival, the festival is not only about art and culture; there are many other events happen during the festival, which makes it more enjoyable and fun for the people who visit St. Petersburg as part of their Russia tour plans in the summer. The most significant event during the White Night Festival other than the Stars of White Nights is the Scarlet Sails show, which is an event to celebrate the bachelors of the high school and welcome them to adulthood. Though at first, this event was a small celebration for the students of some of the high schools in St. Petersburg, in the past years, thanks to a marvelous fireworks show, multiple open-air concerts and parties, light and water shows, and many other things, the Scarlet Sails show has become more popular among all the locals and tourists in St. Petersburg. The highlight of the Scarlet Sail show is the ship with red sails that passes the Neva River and wishes every graduate student a happy life ahead and a steady journey into adulthood where they can achieve their dreams.
As you can see, the White Night Festival is one of the largest festivals in Russia and east of Europe, which many tourists would like to pick that time to travel to Russia, and many even change their calendar to fix their time with St. Petersburg White Night Festival tours. We at the Star Travel Group would also recommend our summer tours and White Night Tours to our travelers because of the diverse opportunities that you can try on our White Night tours. You can also visit our weblog to find more about our tips and advice on how to travel to Russia and what are the highlights of our Russia tours.
