St. Petersburg. Over a million people attended the Alye Parusa (Scarlet Sails) festival for high school graduates. The festival, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, has become world-famous as one of the symbols of Russia’s northern capital. A large-scale multimedia show, a concert and a dazzling fi reworks show were organized on the Neva. The festival culminated in the appearance of a brigantine under scarlet sails. According to tradition, a Swedish sail-boat, Tre Kronor, played the part of the boat in Alexander Grin’s novella The Scarlet Sails.