The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will open on Friday with an unprecedented opening ceremony. Held in the two host cities and several venues in the Alps, it will feature more than 1,000 performers, including Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli, and celebrate Italian history, culture and fashion.
Milan’s San Siro 75,000-seat stadium will be the main venue for the two-and-a-half-hour live coverage of the Olympic opening match, which is expected to draw 2.2 billion spectators worldwide. The ceremony will be held under tight security, with thousands of Italian police officers patrolling the area around the stadium, supported by surveillance drones and robots, and dozens of heads of state, including U.S. Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are expected to watch the show.
In the run-up to the Olympics, there were protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents being stationed on the streets to protect Vance and Rubio, as well as Russian cyberattacks targeting some Olympic-related websites and hotels. Due to tensions over ICE’s presence in Italy, the US Olympic team’s official hospitality hangout space in Milan has been renamed from Ice House to Winter House.
Veteran Olympic ceremony wizard Marko Baric, who is producing the opening match, built the show in multiple locations around the Greek concept of “harmony,” aiming to unite 2,900 athletes from cities and mountains, humans and nature, and cultures who share the Olympic space.
Unlike previous Olympic opening games, such as the star-studded opening of the 2024 Paris Games, “this is the first time there will be a low-key ceremony,” Baric told Variety. Olympic organizers are focusing on less glitz and more environmental sustainability, while still creating plenty of excitement.
Still, Snoop Dogg is participating in NBC’s coverage as a special correspondent. And Sabrina Impacciatore, known to American audiences for her roles in “The White Lotus” and “The Paper,” will perform a musical number tracing 100 years of the Winter Olympics.
For the first time in Olympic history, two cauldrons, one in Milan’s Arco della Pace and the other in Cortina’s Piazza Dibona, will be lit at the same time. The traditional international parade will also take place in four locations: Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo, all woven into a seamless narrative through television coverage.
Read on for live updates of the biggest moments from this year’s Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
