An article is devoted to a problem of assessing an importance of various festive events held in St. Petersburg by a residents of the megapolis. Festive events are an essential component of an symbolic identity policy implemented by institutions of governance, the business community and civil society activists. Results of empirical research conducted at the Resource Center for Sociological and Internet Studies of St. Petersburg State University are presented. As a telephone poll showed, effort and financial resources give a sufficiently positive result, forming certain social groups of citizens who positively or negatively assess an effect of holding public mass events. Cluster analysis showed similarity in assessing the importance of festivities in two groups. A positive attitude to the Victory Day, City Day, New Year on Palace Square, “Scarlet Sails” forms the first cluster. Such other symbolic days as the Day of Russia, the Day of National Unity and the Mayday holiday shape the second cluster. Processional dedicated to Alexander Nevsky, as well as the smelt festival, do not correlate with other festive / significant dates in a minds of a citizens, these events are perceived as very distinct from other events.