The artists performing at the Scarlet Sails festival are named

A little more than a week remains until the main graduation of the country — the Scarlet Sails holiday. In the center of St. Petersburg, his stage takes on the features, the crew of the brig Rossiya goes out into the Neva River again and again. It's getting harder for the organizers to keep secrets, this time they revealed who will be performing in front of thousands of viewers: everyone's favorite stars, new names. Maxim Oblender, a correspondent for Izvestia, told us what the artists would be surprised about and who was entrusted to host the show.

Neither drizzling rain nor wind is an obstacle to this large-scale construction project in the heart of St. Petersburg. Once a year, another dominant grows on Dvortsovaya Street, right next to the Alexandrinsky Pillar and the Hermitage.

"Sloping roofs on massive pillars, masts, lifts, more than a thousand square meters of LED screens are already classics. Multiple locations at once. The building area this year is almost twice as large as last year. Every year, the holiday team sets new records. For example, there was definitely no such thing as a high-speed train leaving a huge depot for graduates. And not only the train!"— the correspondent reported.

"We will have a DJ working and performing on the top floor. And at the bottom, this cylindrical part of the stage will be the point from where the presenters will appear on their boat platform," said Alexey Bulgakov, technical director of the concert part of the Scarlet Sails festival.

Before that, the star couple always led the celebration, and this time, for the first time, several presenters will sail. Vyacheslav Makarov, Daria Alexandrova, Nika Zdorik, Julianna Karaulova, Sergey Gorodnichy will lead graduates towards their dreams. The concert part of the "Scarlet Sails" in 2026 – "The City of Dreamers" — is a story about those who faced a choice, doubted, but went forward to their goal.

"As someone who has already led the Scarlet Sails more than once, I know how it is, not that it's difficult, it's wonderful, but it's a very time-consuming process. All five of us are diving into this depth, I'm sure we can do it," said Daria Alexandrova, the host of the festival.

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

For the first time, the presenters themselves will become part of a musical and theatrical performance and will sing. Together with them, the whole country will hear the voices of the TRITIA group, Julia Peresild and the MANDRAGORA group. Filatov and Karas, Alex Lim, Alyona Sviridova, Lucy Chebotina, Yelka, Tatiana Kurtukova will rock the Palace.

The participants of the national casting will take the stage in front of the stars. This is also a tradition, with half a thousand applications submitted in 2026. Dancers, singers, presenters, musicians — the jury looked at a hundred numbers a day, it was not easy to make a choice.

"No matter how old a person is later, he will remember his exit to the Palace Square, because there is no cooler event on planet Earth on this day," said Sergey Zhuravlev, director of the Scarlet Sails youth program.

Leningrad schoolchildren could only dream of such a thing. The chamber festival on the banks of the Neva River was first held in 1968. Later, the tradition was interrupted, but in 2005, thanks to the ROSSIYA Joint-Stock Bank, the government of St. Petersburg and Channel Five, the holiday was revived.

The snow-white brig Rossiya, a symbol of celebration and fulfillment of the very dream that will be talked about from the stage, is also waiting for its meeting with graduates.

"The crew of the brig ascends the masts and yards again and again, goes through the familiar route and sets sail. After all, there is a strict timing of the scenario: where, at what moment, the brig Rossiya should be, in the light of which fireworks, to which song. Plus, there are sound and lighting equipment on the masts and yards, dozens of actors are on the deck, which undoubtedly makes adjustments to the work of the crew," the correspondent added.

"This time, by the way, we were lucky according to the forecast: one night there will be an easterly wind, the other a westerly one. It's a great chance for us to test the behavior of the brig in changing conditions," said Oleg Nikolaev, captain of the brig Rossiya.

What exactly can be predicted in any wind and weather are tears of delight and joy, as soon as the "Scarlet Sails" appear in the wing of the raised Palace Bridge, in the magical haze of fireworks, and the fact that, according to tradition, each of yesterday's schoolchildren will make a wish to himself or in a careful whisper, which will certainly come true.

"Scarlet Sails" – 2026: date, what time is the start and what will surprise the organizers

In 2026, the festive event is scheduled for June 27.

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