Approximately 35,000 high-school graduates from all across Russia, and about 800,000 people in total attended the event, with 1,800 police officers providing security.
The onlookers were treated to a spectacular show and a majestic fireworks display.
The key element of the festival is a ship with the eponymous scarlet sails that glides along the Neva River – a reference to the popular 1922 book Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin. This year it was a Swedish brigantine called Tre Kronor.
The first Scarlet Sails celebration was held on June 27, 1968, though the tradition was abandoned in 1979, only to be reestablished in 2005 by the city administration, and has been celebrated annually since then.
