The Brig Rossiya held its first rehearsal in front of the Scarlet Sails in the Neva River

On June 11-12, the Brig Rossiya held its first rehearsal before the Scarlet Sails — 2026 Alumni Holiday in the Neva River. From this moment, the countdown begins for the team to the main night, when thousands of yesterday's schoolchildren will make their most cherished wishes and take a step into adulthood.

"We have to get to certain points of the route with very high accuracy: the permissible deviation from the timing is a maximum of five seconds. The speed of the vessel, the movement along the route, the turn — every detail is subordinated to seconds. When the brig performs her signature turn, the crew synchronously unfolds the yards so that the scarlet sails are always facing the spectators on the embankment. Everything is honed to automatism, but it requires maximum concentration," said Oleg Nikolaev, captain of the Brig Rossiya.

According to Nikolaev, each rehearsal before the holiday is a test for the team. Separately, the changeable nature of the weather in St. Petersburg is taken into account during preparation.

"This year it provides an opportunity to test the vessel in different conditions. According to the forecast, the wind is easterly this night and westerly the next," the captain added.

To work out the route before the main summer night, the ship makes from 15 to 25 passes. At the same time, the preparation begins long before June. In winter, the brig Rossiya is stored on land, in a warm hangar — this is how the hull is protected from ice. All this time, the life of the ship does not stop. Maintenance is being carried out, mechanisms are being adjusted, the rigging is being updated, and the ship's control system is being checked and adjusted. By the beginning of summer, the sailboat is fully ready: tested and brought to perfect condition.

Today, the Rossiya is not just a ship. It is a living symbol of the holiday. Built in 1958 and carefully modernized, it has retained its noble lines and received modern management technologies. The vessel can sail both under sail and on an engine, and its scarlet sails cover an area of almost 900 square meters. The celebrations were the largest in the history of the holiday.

On June 27, under thousands of volleys of fireworks, Russia will repeat the route of last year. The brig will start moving at the Senate Square, enter the open gate of the Palace Bridge, proceed along the Palace Embankment, make a 360-degree turn at the Winter Groove, then continue moving towards the Troitsky Bridge to greet all graduates. The return route of the brig will run from Troitsky to the Palace Bridge along the Palace Embankment.

According to the crew members, they feel supported by the audience, but at the moment of the celebration they cannot afford to be distracted — the price of a mistake is too high. The real feeling comes later, when the fireworks go off, the tension subsides and the realization comes that everything has worked out.

The Scarlet Sails holiday was revived after a long-term hiatus in 2005 on the initiative of ROSSIYA Joint Stock Bank, the Government of St. Petersburg and Channel Five.

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

The Scarlet Sails 2025 holiday was awarded the main national television award TEFI in the Entertainment Broadcasting category on June 8. The award ceremony took place in Moscow. The online broadcast on the Internet attracted 13.7 million people. Another 300,000 watched the graduation live on large street screens in major cities.

The concert part of the alumni celebration "Scarlet Sails — 2025" on May 29 also received the silver award of one of the key creative awards of Russia "Silver Mercury" in the nomination "Best Mass event". The jury highly appreciated the quality of the organization of the event, the reach of the audience, the effectiveness of interaction with it and the constant growth of brand awareness.