The 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony took place on 6 February 2026. It started at 20:00 CET (19:00 UTC) and concluded at 23:29. It was held primarily at San Siro in Milan, but also included Livigno, Predazzo, and the streets of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This was the first opening ceremony of the Olympics which took place across four locations in the host country. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings included an artistic program showcasing the culture of the host country and city, with harmony being a central theme, concluding with the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldrons.
| Part of 2026 Winter Olympics | |
Unveiling of the Olympic rings during the ceremony | |
| Date | 6 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Time | 20:00 – 23:29 CET (UTC+1) |
| Venue | San Siro, Livigno, Predazzo and streets of Cortina d'Ampezzo |
| Location | Milan, Italy |
| Also known as | Armonia (Harmony) |
| Filmed by | Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) |
The Games were formally opened by the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella. This was the first Winter Olympics and first Olympic Games opening ceremony under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry. At a total runtime of 3 hours and 30 minutes, it became the longest ceremony in Winter Olympics history, and the ceremony received mostly positive reviews by critics, with many praising its artistic segments and musical performances but criticising its length.
Preparations
The ceremony was directed by Marco Balich and produced by Banijay Live's Balich Wonder Studio. The cauldrons were created in partnership between Balich, Lida Castelli, and Paolo Fantin; they were unveiled in late January 2026. It is the first time that there are two cauldrons in two different cities. The ceremony primarily took place at San Siro in Milan, while there were events including flag raisings and the parade of nations at sites in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo, highlighting the Games' many and vast host sites. The ceremony featured about 1,200 volunteer performers and more than 1,400 costumes; the performers participated in nearly 700 hours of rehearsals. There were nearly 61,000 spectators at San Siro, with ticket prices reaching $2,300 USD. It was filmed by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and broadcast by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) global media rights holders.
The theme for the ceremony was "Armonia" (Harmony). Balich explained that the word harmony derives from Ancient Greek: "It means 'bringing together' in musical terms, different elements."
Proceedings
The ceremony began at 20:00 local time with a 30-second countdown. The show itself began with a tribute to Italian artist Antonio Canova, telling the story of Cupid and Psyche through a museum setting accompanied by dancers and music. After this, Italian actress Matilda De Angelis 'conducted' Italian composers Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, and Giuseppe Verdi. Three hanging blue, red, and yellow paint tubes appeared over the stadium, releasing their colours while dancers performed, symbolising creativity and artistic expression. Their respective costumes showcased Italy's cultural heritage, cuisine, and history. A brief tribute to the late Italian pop culture icon Raffaella Carrà also occurred.
A performance by American singer Mariah Carey followed, with her performing "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" in Italian and her single "Nothing Is Impossible". Afterwards, models wore costumes in the colours of the Italian flag designed by the late Giorgio Armani. Vittoria Ceretti passed the country's flag off to the Carabinieri; in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Fulvio Valbusa, Giorgio Di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer, and Cristian Zorzi did the same to an all-women Carabinieri. At San Siro, Italian singer Laura Pausini performed "Il Canto degli Italiani", while a mountain choir did the same simultaneously in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The Olympic rings were unveiled during a segment featuring dancers showcasing the 'harmony' between the city (Milan) and the mountains (Cortina d'Ampezzo), symbolising the two host cities of the Games. In addition, Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino delivered a recitation of Giacomo Leopardi's poem "L'infinito". The score was led by Giovanni Andrea Zanon playing the 1716 Berthier Stradivarius violin. After this, the parade of nations commenced, beginning with Greece and ending with the host nation, Italy. Athletes from 92 countries paraded from four venues in Milan, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo.
Following the parade, Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore and dancers celebrated the centenary of the Winter Olympic Games. This segment featured the Games' mascots, Tina and Milo. Music played during the segment included "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano. Prior to the official speeches by IOC president Kirsty Coventry and the Games' organising committee president Giovanni Malago, actress Brenda Lodigiani performed a segment on Italian hand gestures. Afterwards, Italian president Sergio Mattarella declared the Games open. Afterwards, Italian tenor singer Andrea Bocelli performed "Nessun dorma".
A segment promoting peace featured South African and American actress and United Nations Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron and Italian rapper Ghali, with dancers recreating the "dove of peace".
The Olympic flag was raised in both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, carried by Rebecca Andrade, Eliud Kipchoge, Cindy Ngamba, Pita Taufatofua, Tadatoshi Akiba, Maryam Bukar Hassan, Nicolò Govoni, Filippo Grandi, Franco Nones, and Martina Valcepina; the Olympic Hymn was performed by Italian singer Cecilia Bartoli, American musician Yo-Yo Ma, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, and the Teatro alla Scala children's choir members. The Olympic oath was stated at Cortina d'Ampezzo's Piazza Angelo Dibona by athletes, coaches, and judges.
Prior to the lighting of the cauldrons, a tribute to European Union featuring the anthem was shown. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti appeared during a segment dedicated to Galileo Galilei; the flame previously briefly entered San Siro before departing to its final destination. The cauldron, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's 'knot' geometric designs, was lit by Italian alpine skiers Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba located in Milan's Arco della Pace monument, while another was lit by Italian alpine skier Sofia Goggia at Cortina d'Ampezzo's Piazza Angelo Dibona. Fireworks in Milan concluded the ceremony.
During the opening ceremony, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance were met with audible boos from the crowd in Milan when they appeared on stadium screens, a reaction widely attributed to concurrent protests against U.S. immigration policies. While the negative reception was clearly heard on international broadcasts, including the CBC's feed, the NBC telecast in the United States did not air the boos, leading to accusations of censorship which the network denied, stating that no crowd audio had been edited.
Anthems
- National Anthem of Italy – Laura Pausini
- Olympic Anthem – Cecilia Bartoli, Lang Lang, and the children's choir of the Teatro alla Scala
TV coverage
The opening ceremony was filmed by host broadcaster Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), with OBS distributing a "world feed" for rights-holding broadcasters to use.
Commentators and hosts
- Italy
- Rai 1: Paolo Petrecca, Fabio Genovesi and Stefania Belmondo
- Australia
- Nine Network: Allison Langdon, Todd Woodbridge and Lydia Lassila
- Brazil
- CazéTV: Luís Felipe Freitas, Casimiro Miguel and Friends
- Canais Globo:
- TV Globo: Gustavo Vilani, Marcel Stürmer, Carlos Gil and Gilberto Nogueira
- SporTV and Ge TV: Luiz Carlos Júnior, Isabel Clark Ribeiro, Jaqueline Mourão, Marcelo Barreto and Marcelo Lins
- Bulgaria
- BNT 1 and BNT 3: Tsvetelina Abrasheva, and Evgeni Nikolov
- Canada
- CBC Sports: Adrienne Arsenault and Devin Heroux
- Ici Radio-Canada Télé: Guillaume Dumas and Serge Denoncourt
- Croatia
- HRT 2: Viki Ivanović and Daniel Križ
- Czech Republic
- ČT Sport: Michal Dusík and Miroslav Langer
- Germany
- Das Erste (ARD): Tom Bartels and Giovanni di Lorenzo
- Hungary
- M4 Sport (MTVA/Duna Média): Attila Tóth and Tamás Vásárhelyi
- Netherlands
- NPO 1 (NOS): Erik van Dijk and Mark Tuitert
- Poland
- TVP1: Marek Rudziński, Piotr Sobczyński
- Sweden
- SVT2: AnnaMaria Fredholm and Anja Pärson
- United Kingdom
- BBC Two: John Hunt and Hazel Irvine
- United States
- NBC Sports (NBCUniversal): Mary Carillo, Terry Gannon, and Shaun White
Dignitaries in attendance
International Olympic Committee
Members of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic movement, not counting foreign representatives:
- IOC – Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee
- IPC – Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee
Host
- Italy –
- Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy
- Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
- Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan
- Gianluca Lorenzi, Mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo
International
International organizations
- European Union - Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament
- UN – António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly
States
- Albania – Bajram Begaj, President of Albania
- Austria – Christian Stocker, Chancellor of Austria
- Belgium – Elisabeth, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Belgium (representing her father, King Philippe)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – Zeljka Cvijanovic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria – Iliana Iotova, President of Bulgaria
- Chile – José Antonio Kast, President-elect of Chile (representing President Gabriel Boric)
- China – Shen Yiqin, State Councillor of China (representing Chinese leader Xi Jinping)
- Croatia – Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, former President of Croatia
- Czech Republic – Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic
- Denmark – Frederik X and Mary, King and Queen of the Kingdom of Denmark
- Estonia – Alar Karis and Sirje Karis, President of Estonia
- Finland – Alexander Stubb, President of Finland
- France – Marina Ferrari, Sports Minister of France
- Laurence Auzière-Jourdan, First Stepdaughter of France (representing President Emmanuel Macron, host country of the 2030 Winter Olympics)
- Georgia – Mikhail Kavelashvili, President of Georgia
- Germany – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany
- Greece – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
- Hungary – Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary
- Jordan – Prince Faisal bin Hussein of Jordan (representing his brother, King Abdullah)
- Latvia – Edgars Rinkevics, President of Latvia
- Evika Silina, Prime Minister of Latvia
- Lithuania – Gitanas Nauseda, President of Lithuania
- Luxembourg – Guillaume, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- Monaco – Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco
- Netherlands – Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands
- Maxima, Queen consort of the Netherlands
- Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange
- Poland – Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland
- Qatar – Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar
- Serbia – Đuro Macut, Prime Minister of Serbia
- Slovakia – Peter Pellegrini, President of Slovakia
- Slovenia – Nataša Pirc Musar, President of Slovenia
- South Korea – Chae Hwi-young, Culture and Sports Minister of South Korea (representing President Lee Jae Myung)
- Spain – Felipe VI and Letizia, King and Queen of the Kingdom of Spain
- Sweden – Victoria, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Sweden (representing her father, King Carl Gustaf)
- Switzerland – Guy Parmelin, President of Switzerland
- Thailand – Suthida, Queen of Thailand (representing her husband King Vajiralongkorn)
- United Kingdom – Anne, Princess Royal (representing her brother, King Charles III)
- United States of America – JD Vance, Vice President of the United States and Usha Vance, Second Lady of the United States (representing President Donald Trump)
- Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State
- Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California (representing Governor Gavin Newsom of California, host state of the 2028 Summer Olympics)
- Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles (Host city of the 2028 Summer Olympics)
- Tilman Fertitta, United States Ambassador to Italy
Reception
Critically, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis gave the ceremony received mixed-to-positive reviews, while Variety's Alison Herman described it as a "playful celebration of Italian culture". In addition, Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood stated that the ceremony was "a beautiful but baffling Italian buffet". The ceremony faced criticism for its usage of generative artificial intelligence during the segment celebrating the centenary of the Winter Olympic Games.
Viewership
According to Auditel ratings, the opening ceremony was seen in Italy by an average of 9.2 million viewers. In the United States, it was reported that the ceremony was seen by 21.4 million viewers, a 34% increase from the 2022 Winter Olympics. Similarly, in Canada, the ceremony was seen by 16 million viewers, the highest Winter Olympics opening ceremony viewership in that country since 2014.
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