The participants of the "Scarlet Sails — 2026" talked about their impressions of the graduation

The alumni celebration "Scarlet Sails — 2026" gave former students not only a spectacular show, but also unforgettable impressions for a lifetime. While fireworks shone over the Neva River, and the legendary brig Rossiya walked across the water surface, yesterday's high school students told Izvestia about their emotions at the main celebration of their youth.

"I've never seen such a large-scale fireworks display. It was not that beautiful, I will remember this day for the rest of my life," said graduate Anastasia Khmelnitskaya.

For Egor Koshkin, this evening was not only joyful, but also deeply emotional. During the pyrotechnic show, the young man felt that his school years were now behind him.

"It was the first time that it happened that it was so sad, it just brought tears to my eyes. I looked at the fireworks, I understood, damn, the school is over. I have a new stage in my life now. I'll never have that again in my life," he said.

Alina Shabanova also shared her admiration. In her opinion, not a single photograph or television broadcast can reflect the real atmosphere of this event.

"In fact, it's much grander and more spectacular live, especially the boat, the fireworks and the concert itself, too, everything was great," said the graduate.

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.

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A schoolgirl from Siberia, Karolina Ivanova, has also dreamed of seeing the Scarlet Sails graduation party in St. Petersburg since the seventh grade. In 2026, her dream finally came true. An official invitation to the celebration arrived in the region where the girl lives, after which the organizers allocated quotas for several of the best students. As a result, Karolina was able to travel from Siberia to St. Petersburg and become one of the participants in one of the largest graduation ceremonies in the country.

Maya Blanche, a schoolgirl from Paris, shared at the same time that "Scarlet Sails" should be seen with her own eyes, impressions of it cannot be fully conveyed in words. The girl admitted that attending the event was her long-time dream. She learned about the existence of this famous holiday long before her trip to Russia from her grandmother, who lives in St. Petersburg and tries not to miss the event.

The graduation celebration ended in St. Petersburg on the night of June 28 with a colorful fireworks display. The concert on the Palace Square was held against the backdrop of the large-scale scenery of the "City of Dreamers". A scenic area was built especially for the event, including a train station, a shipyard, a 30-meter lighthouse structure and over 1,000 square meters of multimedia screens.