During the "Scarlet Sails-2026", the "City of Dreamers" will be built on the Palace Square

On June 27, tens of thousands of graduates and guests of the "Scarlet Sails - 2026" holiday will become not spectators, but co–authors of the concert on the Palace Square of St. Petersburg. On this day, the square will turn into a space where dreams are born and realized — the "City of Dreamers".

Guests will enjoy not just a musical show, but a multi-layered artistic story about choosing a path, inner strength and the future that everyone creates with their own hands.

In the center of the plot of the concert "Scarlet Sails – 2026" is a man and his dream. The directors will propose to look at the dream not as an abstract desire, but as a living process that begins in childhood and runs through the entire life path. It is this idea that will form the basis of the drama of the concert and combine all its elements — from musical numbers to the visual solution of the stage.

"One of the features of this year is the organization of the stage space. The stage of the presenters will be combined with the main one. In fact, everything will turn into a single complex. The presenters will become full—fledged participants in the concert throughout its duration, and all the actions will take place in one space that will cover almost the entire Palace Square," said Felix Mikhailov, artistic director and chief director of the concert part of the alumni festival "Scarlet Sails - 2026".

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The holiday on Dvortsovaya Street will develop as a consistent journey. In the first episodes, viewers will find themselves in the very heart of the "City of Dreamers" among young people who are just beginning to realize their aspirations and are taking the first steps towards their realization.

"In the block with the conditional name "School History" we will find ourselves in the school courtyards of St. Petersburg familiar to every graduate. There they fell in love, made friends, discussed important things and shared their dreams, returned to classes, listened to their favorite music, met their favorite teachers and continued to dream. Because the dream does not disappear anywhere, it always lives inside us," said Tatiana Troshneva, director of the concert part of Scarlet Sails 2026.

The following blocks will take the heroes beyond their hometown and address the theme of the unity of the country. Viewers will hear the stories of people from different regions of Russia who once also stood on the threshold of adulthood and dreamed. Today they are ready to share their experiences and inspire a new generation. The main thing is not to be afraid to choose your own path.

"It is important for us to show today's graduates what lies ahead and what opportunities open up to them, as well as to help them discover the qualities they need when crossing the fine line between childhood, adolescence and adulthood. We want the guys to feel that they live in a huge country where millions of people are ready to support them. So that they understand that they are not alone. There are not just thousands of them on Palace Square — there are millions of them all over Russia," Mikhailov emphasized.

The program will include congratulations to graduates from the heroes of our time. Thus, the Palace Square will become a symbolic point of unification, where different destinies, cities and generations will meet in one space.

There won't just be an audience on the square this year. Everyone will become a part of what is happening. Massive interactive episodes, including "folk karaoke", will unite thousands of graduates, their parents and guests into one grand event where everyone will feel: It's not just a show, but their shared story.

The finale of the concert is the symbolic construction of a ship: from a children's drawing to a large—scale sailboat ready to embark on a big voyage. This metaphor will be the culmination of the main idea of the holiday: dreams are born inside us, and it is man who is able to bring them to life.

The Scarlet Sails holiday was revived in 2005 after a long-term hiatus on the initiative of ROSSIYA Joint Stock Bank, the government of St. Petersburg and Channel Five. Today it is one of the largest cultural events in Russia, which unites millions of viewers in the country and abroad.

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On June 12, the first rehearsal of "Scarlet Sails - 2026" took place in St. Petersburg: the legendary brig Rossiya sailed along the Neva River, and specialists carefully worked out the route and all the technical details. For this event, the bridges in the city were built before sunset, and guests from all over the country came to the embankments. The audience had a rare opportunity to see the Brig Rossiya live — during the first rehearsal without fireworks and festive lighting, but already making a strong impression and attracting the eye.