Olympics opening ceremonies 2026: What to expect from first night at Milan Winter Games

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in 2024 was a French as humanly possible. From the fashion, food, and even a beheaded Marie Antoinette, the show was a level of pageantry that took the world by storm. Italy is going to do their best to follow suit, with the Milano Cortina games boasting a ceremony director Massimo Cantini Parrini described to Reuters saying: “We’ve pushed ‘Italianness’ as far as we could.”

Aside from the parade of nations and the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic cauldron, here’s everything we know so far about the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Music is said to be the focal point of the ceremony, though we only have a handful of confirmed artists so far. Legendary tenor Andrea Bocelli will be performing, joined by pop superstar Mariah Carey, Italian singer Laura Pausini, who won a Golden Globe in 2020 for best original song for the movie The Life Ahead, as well as rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan after his parents emigrated from Tunisia.

There are rumored to be dozens of more musical acts, those these have largely been unannounced by the organizing committee at this time.

Athletes will be arriving at the San Siro, which will serve as the primary location for the opening ceremony — but the ceremony’s design is to showcase numerous venues hosting the games. Cortina d’Ampezzo, as well as Predazzo, and Livigno will all play a significant role in the ceremony — making it the first multi-venue Olympic opening in Winter Olympic history.

This will culminate with simultaneous cauldron lightings at Arco della Pace in Milan, and Piazza Dibona in Cortina.

One of the most legendary soccer stadiums in the world, the San Siro is being decommissioned with a new stadium under construction. The home of AC Milan since 1926, and Inter Milan since 1947 — the grounds have seen over 70,000 fans pack its stands with the two teams being the most successful clubs in Italian soccer.

While nothing has been formally announced, it’s expected that the Opening Ceremony will have an ode to the history of the stadium, potentially featuring some of the biggest stars to ever play for AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Date: Friday, February 6

Time: Coverage will begin at 2 p.m. ET live, with a replay in primetime at 8 p.m. ET.

Channel: The ceremony will air both viewings on NBC, as well as stream live on Peacock