See the Stars of the White Nights

The summer months come and go all too quickly in Russia, so the Russian Federation makes the best of the short season with The Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. From May 27 to July 31, St. Petersburg comes to life with a celebration of the arts, culture and welcoming summer months ahead.

The White Night festival began more than 20 years ago and has quickly become one of the biggest cultural events in the country. The festival is more of an assembly of artistic expression through various events and performances. One of the most popular to watch is the Scarlet Sails event. The tradition draws more than 3.5 million people to the streets to watch the gunpowder fireworks rain down around the red-sailed ships.

The streets of St. Petersburg will be packed with tourists and locals celebrating the long summer days well into the night while other artistic performances will be scattered throughout the city. Throughout the summer months there will be sand sculpting, famous Russian Ballet performances, live music, art shows, film festivals and much more so for those who want to leave to party in the streets and head inside, there will be something to entertain every night and well into the morning.

Since the locals will party hard and long the night before, the streets are often open and uncrowded during the day for tourists to explore. The ancient, baroque style architecture that surrounds the city is a beautiful backdrop to the celebratory event that has gained such popularity in recent years.

There is something for everyone with high-art performances in the evening and underground raves raging long into the night and next day. St. Petersburg in the summer is truly the city that never sleeps.