White Nights Festival, St Petersburg

The White Nights Festival is an annual summer festival in Saint Petersburg that honors the city's near-midnight sun phenomenon, which occurs every year between April 21 and August 21 due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle; the skies only reach twilight and never reach complete darkness.

The "Stars of the White Nights" are a series of classical ballet, opera, and orchestral performances held at the Mariinsky Theatre and Mariinsky Concert Hall as part of St. Petersburg's White Nights Festival. Valery Gergiev is the festival's artistic director. There are practically daily evening concerts at the Mariinsky Concert Hall and daily evening performances at the Mariinsky Theater (either ballet or opera) during the festival (either classical concert or opera-in-concert).

During the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, a number of carnivals are held. The largest and most well-known carnival in the world takes place in the St. Petersburg district of Peterhof. Actors dressed in period costumes perform plays reenacting historical events from the time period. As part of the carnival, period carriages are rode around Peterhof park.

Date: April 21st to August 21st