The annual Scarlet Sails festival to celebrate Russian high school graduations was held from Saturday night to early Sunday morning in St. Petersburg, Russia, with tens of thousands of graduates celebrating the start of their adult lives.
Traditionally, graduates make a wish while watching the "Rossiya", a two-masted sailing ship, sail by on the Neva River.
On Palace Square in the city center, performers took to the stage, celebrating together with the spectators.
"I watched the festival on TV almost every year, and my parents and I regularly went to rehearsals, so I've seen it, but the feeling when this celebration happens for me is completely different," said Maria Timkina, a graduate of the Anichkov Lyceum in St. Petersburg.
Other graduates shared their joy and excitement about the celebration and their graduations.
"We are happy, we are glad to be graduates. Everything is so beautiful and fun. This holiday is about dreams and hopes; it is necessary for all graduates," said Violetta Lapteva, a graduate from School No. 619 in St. Petersburg.
"Anticipation of a storm of emotions, flashes of light, fireworks! That's all!" said Grigory Kholodov, a graduate from the Anichkov Lyceum in St. Petersburg.
For the first time in the history of the Scarlet Sails festival, the "Rossiya" was not alone on the Neva River. A firebird, a complex pyrotechnic device with a wingspan of 25 meters, was specially designed and placed alongside the boat on the river. It took six months to develop and underwent extensive testing, all to turn reality into a fairy tale and make every graduate's dream come true.
Grand "Scarlet Sails" graduation celebration held in St. Petersburg
