Short answers, pulled from the story.
Scarlet Sails is an annual public event in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the largest event of the White Nights Festival. It features live music, ballet, classical performances on multiple stages, water races on the Neva River, and the appearance of a tall ship with scarlet sails.
The tradition began in 1968, when several Leningrad schools united to celebrate the end of the school year. The first event featured a brigantine with scarlet sails sailing along the English Embankment and the Admiralty Embankment toward the Winter Palace.
The celebration draws its name and symbolism from Alexander Grin's 1923 romantic novel Scarlet Sails. The 1961 film adaptation of the novel further boosted the book's popularity and reinforced the tradition.
Attendance reached three million people in 2010. That year's performers included the Cirque du Soleil, the Mariinsky Ballet, and Antonio Banderas.
In 2020 and 2021, the celebration moved to a virtual format because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person events returned in 2022.
The Neva River hosts rowing and motorboat races, a large-scale mock battle with pirates, and the climactic appearance of a tall ship sailing under scarlet sails. Performances on shore run simultaneously across several stages.