The Stars of the White Nights is one of the capital cities on the world“s music and theatre map and has emerged to be one of the most popular and grandiose music forums in terms of content and scale.

The Stars of the White Nights Festival was initiated in 1993 by Valery Gergiev, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Maestro says that he envisaged the first Festival as a "musical gift" to the city from the Mariinsky Theatre and the soloists who agreed to to take part. Since its very inception, the Festival has focussed on masterpieces of world music, some rarely performed or undeservedly forgotten.

The Stars of the White Nights Festival has gained in strength, popularity and international acclaim. Over sixteen years since it was founded, it has expanded from ten days to three months. Renowned conductors and soloists consider it a great honour to perform at the Stars of the White Nights. Each year the Festival programme includes the Theatre“s finest opera and ballet productions, great symphonic works, masterpieces of chamber music and new premieres.

In recent years the Festival playbill has included series of works by the great classical composers – such as symphonies by Beethoven and Prokofiev's and Tchaikovsky's  operas, ballets and symphony music. Major events at the Stars have included the staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, in addition to the Shostakovich and Mahler Symphonies series.

This festival is a must for ballet, opera and classical music lovers. The annual Stars of the White Nights Festival derives its name from the short summer season when the sun never sets, and the beauty of these White Nights contributes to the festival’s special atmosphere and its world-class programme of concerts, as audiences exit the historic theatre at midnight into daylight to stroll home through the theatrical setting of St Petersburg.