Scarlet Sails-2025 has been announced in the Silver Mercury Audience Award

The concert part of the alumni celebration "Scarlet Sails-2025" on April 23 was announced for the audience award contest of one of Russia's key creative awards, the Silver Mercury.

The SM Public Vote of the Silver Mercury Prize is an open vote in which projects are evaluated by the audience. Victory is especially significant here: it reflects the real response of the audience and shows how close the project turned out to be to people.

In 2025, the main theme of the holiday was victories and the qualities that are necessary to achieve them. The concert blocks revealed the following values — unity, courage, wisdom. All the elements of the performances — choreography, graphics on the screens, technological solutions, including fountains with water theater artists and a huge mechanical firebird - were inspired by the history of the country, the exploits of the people, the victories of goodness in fairy tales and epics. The artists worked in a variety of spaces — on stage, in the air, and even underwater.

A special place was occupied by the theme of the siege of Leningrad, one of the most tragic pages in the history of the city. The epilogue of the concert was a number with the participation of composer Nikola Melnikov, orchestra and choir — a total of 70 artists. The musical compilation of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony reminded of the fortitude and perseverance of the inhabitants of the Northern Capital. The performance ended with the song "Beautiful is far away" — as a symbol of hope and moving forward despite any trials.

In 2025, a record 45.7 million people worldwide watched the graduation ceremony. This is 8.7 million more than a year earlier. The television coverage of the water and pyrotechnic show in the Neva River and the concert of Russian pop stars on Palace Square amounted to about 31.7 million people, including the international orbit. The number of views of the online broadcast on the Internet is 13.7 million. Another 300,000 people watched the holiday live on large street screens in major cities.

The Leningrad graduation ceremony was first held in 1968. In 1979, it was discontinued. In 2005, at the initiative of ROSSIYA Joint Stock Bank, the Government of St. Petersburg and Channel Five, the holiday was revived. All this time, Channel Five has been providing its live television broadcast every year and has been the organizer of the water pyrotechnic show for several years in a row. The main production director is Mikhail Kolpakhchiev. The staging of the concert part on the Palace Square was handled by the ERA event agency. In 2025, Vladislav Kabanov and Maxim Akhtyamov became directors.

The winners will be announced at the main Silver Mercury Award ceremony on May 29. In 2026, this year's legendary graduation will be held on June 27.

Going ashore: graduates met the brig Rossiya and heard the Katyusha volleys

The grandiose celebration "Scarlet Sails" in St. Petersburg was dedicated to the theme of victory

In 2025, the graduation celebration was held on the night of June 29. More than 100 thousand schoolchildren from all over the country and from abroad came to see the unique spectacle. 5UTRA, Akmal', Vadim Samoilov, Ivanushki International, The Hatters, Nadezhda Kadysheva, Bearwolf, Zara, as well as Vadim Samoilov, founder and leader of the Agatha Christie group, performed at the festival.