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It’s time to go for gold.
Competition at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics began on Wednesday, but the official opening ceremony will take place this afternoon.
The extravagant show was held at Milan’s 100-year-old San Siro Olympic Stadium and was designed by creative director Marco Baric, who has been involved in 16 Olympic ceremonies.
2026 Olympic Opening Ceremony: What you need to know
Date: February 6th, 1:40pm ET Location: San Siro, Milan, Italy Channel: NBC Streaming: Sling TV
“The secret to a beautiful ceremony is to say something meaningful using easy-to-understand concepts,” he recently told The New York Times.
For the first time, the ceremony will end with the lighting of two torches, one in Milan and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Read on for everything you need to know to watch every game from home. Plus, when to tune in for Team USA’s arrival.
When is the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony will be broadcast on NBC at 1:40pm ET on Friday, February 6th, and is scheduled to last approximately three hours.
How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Opening Ceremony live for free.
One of our favorite cost-effective options is Sling TV, which has a number of flexible plans. NBC is part of Sling’s Select plan, which starts at $19.99 per month and includes a live local NBC channel. The game ends on February 22nd, so you can watch all of the Olympics with Sling for a month.
Additionally, Peacock will serve as the official streaming home of the Winter Games, broadcasting thousands of hours of live coverage. (It costs $10.99 per month with ads and $16.99 per month without ads.)
Who will perform at the Winter Olympics ceremony?
Mariah Carey goes from Christmas Queen to Winter Queen. Grammy winners will also perform at the opening ceremony, including Andrea Bocelli and Sabrina Impacciatore, who appeared in “The Paper” and “White Lotus” Season 2, as well as Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini and Chinese pianist Lang Lang.
When will Team USA appear in the Nations Parade? Who will be Team USA’s flag bearer?
As the birthplace of the Olympics, Greece always leads the national parade, followed by the rest of the countries in alphabetical order (in their native languages), with three exceptions.
Current host country Italy will appear last, followed by France, host country of the 2030 Winter Olympics. The 2034 Winter Olympics will be held in Salt Lake City, making the United States third-to-last.
Speed skater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca were both selected as Team USA flag bearers. As always, the entire team will be wearing Ralph Lauren (and fans can purchase similar styles from the All-American brand’s Team USA line).
When is the 2026 Olympic Closing Ceremony?
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games will conclude on February 22nd at 3:00 pm ET.
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This article was written by Hannah Southwick, Commerce Associate Editor at Page Six. Hanna covers actually affordable styles worn by celebrities, testing celebrity brands and finding beauty products that keep stars red carpet ready. She consults stylists and industry experts (including celebrities themselves) for first-hand product recommendations, trend predictions, and more. In addition to writing for Page Six since 2020, her work has also been featured in USA Today and Parade.
