Short answers, pulled from the story.
The White Nights Festival is an annual summer festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, built around the phenomenon of midnight twilight caused by the city's proximity to the Arctic Circle. From about the 22nd of April to the 21st of August each year, the night sky never fully darkens. The festival features classical ballet and opera at the Mariinsky Theatre, the Scarlet Sails celebration, pop concerts at Palace Square, carnivals, and a marathon.
The "Stars of the White Nights" series began in 1993, founded by Anatoly Sobchak, the first mayor of St. Petersburg. It has been held annually since then. Valery Gergiev serves as the artistic director.
Past performers at the Stars of the White Nights include Plácido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Olga Borodina, Alfred Brendel, Carlo Maria Giulini, Yuri Temirkanov, Gidon Kremer, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alexander Toradze, Deborah Voigt, and James Conlon. Performances take place at the Mariinsky Theatre and the Mariinsky Concert Hall.
The Scarlet Sails celebration, known in Russian as "Alye Parusa," is a public event during the White Nights that marks the end of the school year with fireworks and a nautical show featuring a ship with crimson sails. Its popularity was boosted by the 1961 Soviet film "Alye parusa," starring Anastasiya Vertinskaya and Vasily Lanovoy.
Yes. In 2020 the White Nights Festival was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the festival was held online instead.
More than 5,000 runners take part in the White Nights International Marathon and 10K run each year. The marathon ran from 1990 to 2019, paused, and resumed in 2024.