The Olympic Winter Games are heading back to Italy, and before the first medals are won on snow and ice, the Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony will officially get the Games underway. The night will bring athletes and spectators from around the world together for a celebration of Italian culture, music and Olympic tradition, with Mariah Carey and The White Lotus actress Sabrina Impacciatore among the stars taking part.
This year’s ceremony has been built around “Armonia,” the Italian word for Harmony, an idea that can be seen in the balance, rhythm and movement of sport, as well as in the way people from different countries and cultures come together at the Olympic Games. Producer Marco Balich described the inspiration as a meeting between “Milan and Cortina, city and mountain, the harmony between man and nature, between cultures, people and different ways of thinking.”
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That connection between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo will be a major part of the night, especially as Cortina returns to the Olympic stage 70 years after hosting the 1956 Winter Olympics. With the Games taking place across the city and the mountains, the 2026 Opening Ceremony is shaping up to be very different from what we’ve seen at previous Winter Games. So, when does it start, where will it take place, and who will perform?
Speaking to the Associated Press, Balich also explained why that message feels particularly important now, “In this moment, where forces and bullies are predominant, I think it’s very important for all of us to embrace the values that the Olympics represents, which is to compete respectfully and peacefully between all the countries and nations, summarized in the title ‘Harmony.’”
Here’s everything you need to know about the Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony will take place on Friday, February 6, 2026, starting at 8 p.m. local time in Milan and 2 p.m. ET. The ceremony will last about 2 to 3 hours and will include the arrival of the Olympic Torch and the official welcome of athletes from all over the world as Italy opens the Winter Games.
However, some sports will have already started before the Opening Ceremony. Early matches and qualifying rounds in curling, women’s ice hockey, and men’s snowboarding will happen on February 4 and 5. The first day of figure skating will also take place on February 6, before the ceremony starts. So, even though Friday night is the official opening of Milano Cortina 2026, some athletes have already tasted the Olympic competition.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony will be centred on San Siro Stadium in Milan, one of Italy’s most famous sporting venues and home to AC Milan and Inter Milan. However, this won’t be an Opening Ceremony confined to a single stadium or city. Celebrations will unfold simultaneously across northern Italy, including Cortina d’Ampezzo, with two Olympic cauldrons set to be lit and later extinguished for the first time—one at the Arco della Pace in Milan and another in Piazza Dibona in the heart of Cortina.
Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, explained why the Games’ unusual two-city identity required a different approach. “For the first time, the name of our Games includes two cities, which means we have to hold the most significant moments twice: the flag-raising ceremony and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron will take place in two locations, and we have to manage this visibility,” he said.
The celebrations will stretch even further, with simultaneous athlete parades and events in Livigno, home to snowboarding and freestyle competitions, and in Predazzo, which will host skiing events. Rather than asking every athlete to travel to Milan, the format gives Olympians across the host regions a chance to be part of the Opening Ceremony wherever their competition takes them.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony will bring some serious star power to San Siro Stadium, with Mariah Carey among the biggest names confirmed to perform. Known for hits including “We Belong Together,” Carey was chosen for more than her global fame, with the organizing committee saying she “fully represents the emotional atmosphere that accompanies the run-up to the Games. Music is a universal language that attracts different stories and sensibilities, and intertwines with the opening ceremony’s theme of harmony.”
Joining Carey will be ‘The White Lotus’ star Sabrina Impacciatore, while Italy’s music and film scene will be well represented throughout the night. Tenor Andrea Bocelli, singer Laura Pausini, actor Pierfrancesco Favino, actress and singer Matilda De Angelis and violinist Giovanni Zanon are also part of the line-up. It’s a wide mix of performers, but one that makes sense for a ceremony built around “Armonia,” bringing opera, contemporary music, acting and live performance together on the same Olympic stage.
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The ceremony will also pay a special tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani. His impact and influence went beyond fashion, helping shape how Italian style is viewed worldwide and leading to a night dedicated to the country’s culture and creative history.
The entire ceremony is being produced by Balich Wonder Studio, led by Marco Balich, who has worked on a record 16 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, from the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics to Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg will once again be part of NBC’s Olympic coverage after his memorable run as a roving correspondent at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. Now an honorary coach for Team USA, he’ll be back to bring his own personality to the Winter Games coverage.
For Canadians viewers, the Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony is available on CBC, Bell Media, and Rogers Media. Coverage began on Friday, February 6, ahead of the ceremony, with the main event getting underway at around 2 p.m. ET and 11 a.m. PT. The Opening Ceremony was also carried across CBC/Radio-Canada’s wider Olympic broadcast network, giving Canadian viewers several ways to follow the celebrations from Milan and Cortina.
In the United States, the Opening Ceremony aired live on NBC and streamed on Peacock, with live coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET and a pre-show starting at 1:40 p.m. ET. For anyone who missed the live broadcast, NBC also presented an enhanced primetime encore at 8 p.m. ET, and streaming was available on NBC Olympics and other NBC digital platforms with required access.
Outside North America, coverage will vary by country, with the Olympic Games available through local media rights holders and selected streaming platforms. The official Olympics Opening Ceremony Guide provides a country-by-country list of broadcasters, making it easier to find where the ceremony will be shown in your region. Whether you’re tuning in in the evening in Europe or watching from another part of the world, the Opening Ceremony marks the official start of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
