The Stars of the White Nights Festival is considered among the ten best music festivals in the world today, and among the most popular and diverse musical events in Russia. Created in 1993 by General and Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Maestro Valery Gergiev, the Festival’s mission was to serve as “a musical gift to the city [of St. Petersburg] from the Mariinsky Theatre’s performers and soloists,” who agreed to participate. Over 20 years, the length of the Stars of the White Nights Festival increased from 10 days to 3 months.