The spring-summer season in St. Petersburg is traditionally filled with all sorts of cultural events: concerts, exhibitions, theater premieres and festivals take place almost every day and it is not easy to keep the track of motley St. Petersburg activities schedule. So that you don’t get upset about sold out tickets or missed festival, we have made a selection of the most interesting upcoming events that can help you to create your own compulsory cultural program of spring-summer season 2017 in St. Petersburg.

Exhibition “Manolo Blahnik. Shoes as an art”
April 23 – July 29
Hermitage, General staff building
The exhibition “Shoes as an art” presents 30 paintings and 214 pairs of shoes from the personal archive of Manolo Blahnik. Six main directions of creative activity of the master will be presented in the General staff building of the Hermitage. For example, “Gala” section comprises the most expensive and fancy models, in the “Heart” section each pair of shoes is associated with some personality, a movie or a book that inspired the designer and sections “Geography” and “Nature” present works of the maestro that were born under impressions of different journeys and surrounding world respectively.

International dance festival “Open Look”
June 29 – July 9
Alexandrinsky theater
A grand dance marathon will be held for the nineteenth time this year. Once it all started with a summer dance school, which over the years has evolved into the international festival. This summer we will see the premieres of performances from all around the world in a variety of genres, from visual theatre to modern circus, and learn all about the current trends at master classes by famous European teachers. 

Festival of classical opera “Opera for everyone”
July 12 – July 22
TBA

In July, various historic sites of St. Petersburg will once again host the festival of classical opera “Opera for everyone” under the open sky. Citizens and guests of the city will be able to see and hear the masterpieces of Russian and foreign composers absolutely free. The program of the sixth St. Petersburg international opera festival will open July 12 by the outstanding opera by Mikhail Glinka “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. 

Exhibition of paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin
April 27 – August 1
Russian Museum
April 20 the exhibition of works by famous Russian battle artist Vasily Vereshchagin will open in the Russian Museum. The Benois wing will host more than 220 works from the collections of leading Russian museums, including the Tretyakov gallery. In addition to world-famous paintings, you will be able to see less known landscape sketches and portraits by the artist. And also visitors will get a chance to get acquainted with Vereshchagin’s biography through documentary materials.

The FIFA Confederations Cup
17 June – 2 July
Zenit Arena
Traditionally, every year preceding the Football World Cup the Confederations Cup kicks off. And the year before the World Cup in Russia won’t be an exception. The FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 will engage 8 teams: Russia (the host of the 2018 World Cup), Portugal (Euro 2016 champion) Germany (2014 world champion), Chile, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and Cameroon. The newly constructed “Zenit Arena” stadium in St. Peterburge will host matches between Russia and New Zealand, Chile and Australia and the cup final. 

Scarlet Sails
23 June
Palace Square
Scarlet sails, the main celebration of St. Petersburg’s graduates, will be held this year June 23. The main event traditionally takes place at the Palace square and spit of Vasilevsky island, and the final show is performed directly in the waters of the Neva river. From the embankment you can enjoy the sailing ship under the scarlet sails floating on the river, fascinating laser show and impressive fireworks. By the way, in 2015 “Scarlet sails” was honored as the best city event in Russia.

Dance Open ballet festival
April 13 – April 24
Alexandrinsky theater
Scarlet sails, the main celebration of St. Petersburg’s graduates, will be held this year June 23. The main event traditionally takes place at the Palace square and spit of Vasilevsky island, and the final show is performed directly in the waters of the Neva river. From the embankment you can enjoy the sailing ship under the scarlet sails floating on the river, fascinating laser show and impressive fireworks. By the way, in 2015 “Scarlet sails” was honored as the best city event in Russia.

Festival of landscape design “Imperial gardens of Russia”
June 10 – June 19
Mikhailovsky garden
On the eve of the white nights Mikhailovsky garden will once again be adorned with whimsical art objects: from 10 to 19 June St. Petersburg will host the “Imperial gardens of Russia” festival. It has a rich background: in 2008, the Russian Museum held the first exhibition of landscape design with the support of the British Royal family. It was organized by the Union of gardeners of Russia — the successor of the Imperial society, that adorned St. Petersburg’s parks before the revolution. The place for the venue was, and remains, the Mikhailovsky garden.

International music festival “Stars of the white nights”
May 26 – June 23
Mariinsky theater
“Stars of the white nights” is the largest international music forum in Russia, whose inspirer is the outstanding Russian musician of our time, Valery Gergiev. This year most prominent directors, conductors, dancers and performers of classical music from all around the world will gather again at the large-scale summer forum in the heart of the Northern capital. The audience can expect more than 160 events with participation of stars, world premiere performances, night concerts and much more.