The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will officially commence on Friday, February 6, 2026, with the opening ceremony scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CET at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. Milano Cortina 2026 will be the first Winter Games officially shared between two host cities. Milan will stage the ice events, and Cortina d’Ampezzo will anchor the Alpine competitions. For those tuning in from the U.S., live coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, with primetime coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET, according to NBC. The ceremony will feature performances by global superstar Mariah Carey and renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, among others, under the creative direction of Marco Balich.
Olympics.com highlights that this marks the first Olympic opening ceremony conceived to allow athletes to participate in a shared experience across multiple locations simultaneously. While the main ceremony unfolds at San Siro Stadium, athlete processions will take place at competition venues in Predazzo, Livigno, and Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Games will feature two Olympic cauldrons for the first time, with one located at Milan’s Arco della Pace and another in Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Piazza Dibona. The ceremony carries the theme “Armonia” (Harmony), which creative director Marco Balich explains comes from ancient Greek, meaning “bringing together” in musical terms.
Opening Ceremony Performances And How To Get Tickets
The opening ceremony brings together international and Italian talent. Five-time Grammy winner Mariah Carey will headline the event, with the local Olympic committee stating that she “fully represents the emotional atmosphere that accompanies the run-up to the Games.” Joining Carey will be Andrea Bocelli, Golden Globe winner Laura Pausini, award-winning actor Pierfrancesco Favino, and Emmy-nominated actress Sabrina Impacciatore from The White Lotus. NBC’s U.S. broadcast will be hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Terry Gannon, with former Olympic snowboarder Shaun White joining the coverage.
For in-person attendees, tickets for the opening ceremony range from €260 ($270 USD) to €2,026 ($2,107 USD). All tickets are digital and available exclusively through the official ticketing portal. Spectators planning to attend should arrive early, as security checks and queues are expected to be lengthy. Viewers watching from home have multiple options: in Italy, RAI will livestream the ceremony, while US audiences can tune in to NBC or stream on Peacock. UK viewers can watch on the BBC.
