"The Scarlet Sails" — a festival of graduates of Leningrad schools, the appearance of which in the late 60's was inspired by the incredible popularity of the eponymous film based on the story by Alexander Green.

The decision to establish a new festival was made by the City Department of Public Education of Leningrad, the responsibility for the organization of the event was assigned to the employees of the Palace of Pioneers named after Zhdanov and the first festival was held on June 27, 1968. On that day, Leningrad schoolchildren first saw on the Neva a brigantine under scarlet sails, which later became the emblem of the festival.

The tradition of celebrating the entry of yesterday's schoolchildren into adulthood by the whole city was stopped in 1979 and was only revived 25 years later on the initiative of St. Petersburg City Administration, a joint-stock bank "RUSSIA" and Channel 5. The festival was reborn on June 24, 2005. Since then, its geography has expanded significantly, the city event has gained international significance and "The Scarlet Sails" has become part of the world tourism events. It’s recommended for attendance in 20 countries of the European Union.

Every year "The Scarlet Sails" festival gathers hundreds of thousands of spectators in the center of St. Petersburg and a multi-national audience of Channel 5 broadcasting this show.