The history of the “Scarlet Sails” celebration began in the 1960s as a celebration for all students graduating from schools in the city of Leningrad. The celebration’s name, scarlet sails, is also the name of a film which was popular at the time. This film, in turn, was based on a novel by Aleksandr Grin (also of the same name) which told a story about faith and the all-conquering dream that everyone can perform miracles for their loved ones.
The first Scarlet Sails celebration took place on June 27th 1968. This was the day when Leningrad school children saw for first time that ship with deep-red sails which would live on to become an enduring emblem of the celebration. The celebration was celebrated annually until 1979 when it was cancelled by the Head of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU. Fortunately, the celebration was resurrected on June 24th 2005. Since then the celebration has gained a new international dimension; it has entered into a register of world tourism events and attendance is now promoted by over 20 countries in the European Union.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors gather in the centre of Saint Petersburg to see the annual festivities, whilst several million more tune in via to watch events unfold live on TV.
The most impactful and romantic moment of the event is, of course, the appearance of the scarlet sailed ship. This year that role will be played, for the seventh time, by the Swedish ship “Tre Kronor of Stockholm”. The “Tre Kronor” is an exact replica of the brig “Gladan” which was built in 1857. The Gladan itself was a training ship but, despite that fact, it participated twice in the expeditions of the famous polar Explorer, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, sailing to both Svalbard and Greenland. As well-preserved, detailed blueprints of the “Gladan” were available in military archives, it was the ideal model for creating sailing ship using traditional methods and technology.
The construction of the “Tre Kronor” began in 1977 in the Skeppsholmen shipyards and she was launched on August 27th 2005. In additional the ship was dedicated to Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, with her being named the ship’s “godmother”.
The sailing “Rossiya” will mark the culmination of an intense maritime and pyrotechnic display. Any ship which wishes to play the role of the brigantine with scarlet sails, requires not only aesthetic beauty and grandeur but also extreme manoeuvrability as well as a skilled, close-knit crew led by a accomplished captain. In the narrow channel of the Neva sharp changes in wind speed and direction can occur at any second. Speaking on this subject, the Tre Kronor’s consultant, Sergey Timoshkov, said, “today there are a hundred times more people who have been to space than those who have the skills to pilot sailing ships like ours. As the sailboat will be required, during the festival, to move to the rhythm of music with a specific tempo and clear intervals, it will be necessary for the crew to fulfil instantaneously, tasks which would, under normal seafaring conditions, take 20 minutes. For five years in a row now Captain Allan Palmer and his crew have managed to achieve this feat brilliantly.”
So come to St Petersburg. Not just to wonder at its masterpieces of architecture and international art or to explore its rivers and canals by boat, but also to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of this wondrous celebration and to gaze upon the awe-inspiring firework display which will accompany it.
