The opening ceremony of the2026 Winter Olympics took place on 6 February 2026. It started at 20:00CET (19:00UTC) and concluded at 23:29.[1] It was held primarily atSan Siro inMilan, but also includedLivigno,Predazzo, and the streets ofCortina, Italy. This was the first opening ceremony of the Olympics which took place across four locations in the host country.[2]As mandated by theOlympic Charter, the proceedings included an artistic program showcasing the culture of the host country and city, withharmony being a central theme,[3][4] concluding with theparade of athletes and the lighting of theOlympic cauldrons.
The opening ceremony was directed by Marco Balich and produced byBanijay Live's Balich Wonder Studio.[6] It is the first time that there are two cauldrons in two different cities. The ceremony primarily took place at theSan Siro inMilan, while there were events, including the Parade of Nations at sites inCortina,Livigno, andPredazzo, highlighting the Games' host sites.[7][8] 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.[9][10] It was filmed byOlympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and broadcast by theInternational Olympic Committee's (IOC) global media rights holders.[citation needed]
The theme for the ceremony was "Armonia" (Harmony).[11] Balich explained that the word harmony derives fromAncient Greek: "It means 'bringing together' in musical terms, different elements."[12]
The ceremony began at 20:00 CET with a 30-second countdown. The show itself began with a tribute to Italian artistAntonio Canova, telling the story ofCupid and Psyche through a museum setting accompanied by dancers and music.[13] After this, Italian actressMatilda De Angelis 'conducted' Italian composersGiacomo Puccini,Gioachino Rossini, andGiuseppe 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 Italianpop culture iconRaffaella Carrà also occurred.[14]
TheOlympic rings were unveiled during a segment featuring dancers showcasing the 'harmony' between the city (Milan) and the mountains (Cortina), symbolising the two host cities of the Games. Then a premade video shows two kids holding two plushies of the mascots of the Games hop onto a tram in Milan, taking a tour of the city's historical sites, and performers and musicians take the tram too. The tram arrives at the stadium and everyone leaves the tram to head to the stadium, including the two kids, whom one of them drops the Tina plush, but is picked up and returned to the kids by president of theItalian Republic,Sergio Mattarella, who also shows up live in the stadium. In addition, Italian actorPierfrancesco Favino delivered a recitation ofGiacomo Leopardi's poem "L'infinito".[16] The score was led byGiovanni Andrea Zanon playing the 1716BerthierStradivarius violin.[17] After this, theparade of nations commenced, beginning withGreece and ending with the host nation,Italy. Athletes from 93 countries paraded from four venues in Milan, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo,[18] against the backdrop of dance music provided by producer DJ Mace; the Italian athletes marched as a remixed version of "Largo al factotum" fromRossini's operaThe Barber of Seville was heard.
Following the parade, Italian actressSabrina Impacciatore and dancers celebrated the 100 years of theWinter Olympic Games, first showcasing all the past Winter Olympics in backwards chronological order in a premade video through an animated sequence and then cutting to the live performance in the stadium. This entire segment featured the Games' mascots,Tina and Milo, in the premade video before the animated sequence. Music played during the segment included "Prisencolinensinainciusol" byAdriano Celentano.[19] Prior to the official speeches byIOC PresidentKirsty Coventry and the Games' organising committee presidentGiovanni Malago, actress Brenda Lodigiani performed a segment onItalian hand gestures. Italian presidentSergio Mattarella, after being introduced in a pre-filmed video segment depicting him riding atram in Milan driven byValentino Rossi, proceeded to declare the Games open.[20] Afterwards, Italian tenor singerAndrea Bocelli performed "Nessun dorma".[21]
Prior to the lighting of the cauldrons, a tribute to theEuropean Union featuring theanthem was shown.[citation needed] Then it was followed by a short segment about Europe's involvement with space exploration and astronomy (As with theEuropean Space Agency) where a projection of the Milky Way galaxy is displayed and then followed by a young girl in the stadium who observes a model of the Solar System and promises to care for Earth and then meets Italian astronautSamantha Cristoforetti and they both witness a space-themed performance in the middle of the stadium; the flame previously briefly entered the San Siro before departing to its final destination. The cauldron, inspired byLeonardo da Vinci's 'knot' geometric designs, was lit by Italianalpine skiersDeborah Compagnoni andAlberto Tomba located in Milan'sArco della Pace monument, while another was lit by Italian alpine skierSofia Goggia at Cortina's Piazza Angelo Dibona.[26]
The opening ceremony was filmed by host broadcasterOlympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), with OBS distributing a "world feed" for rights-holding broadcasters to use.[52]
According to Auditel ratings, the opening ceremony was seen in Italy by an average of 9.2 million viewers.[77] In the United States, the ceremony was seen by 21.4 million viewers, a 34% increase from the2022 Winter Olympics.[78]
Critically,The Guardian'sAlexis Petridis gave the ceremony received mixed-to-positive reviews,[19] whileVariety's Alison Herman described it as a "playful celebration of Italian culture."[79] In addition, Dominic Patten ofDeadline Hollywood stated that the ceremony was "a beautiful but baffling Italian buffet."[80]
During the Parade of Nations, U.S. Vice PresidentJD Vance, who American broadcasterNBC appeared to have cut from footage,[81] and theIsraeli team werebooed by some of the audience present at San Siro.[82] While the negative reception for Vance was heard on OBS broadcasts, NBC's telecast received accusations of censorship.[83]
The commentary of the opening ceremony aired by Italian broadcasterRAI was heavily criticized. Numerous gaffes were made by directorPaolo Petrecca; in addition to speaking over images and the other two commentators, Fabio Genovesi andStefania Belmondo, Petrecca confused actressMatilda De Angelis with singerMariah Carey, mistookIOC presidentKirsty Coventry forPresidentSergio Mattarella's daughter, made offensive comments during the athletes' parade, and failed to recognize the Olympic champions of thewomen's national volleyball team (with the exception ofPaola Egonu).[84] Rai Sport journalists announced that, in protest against Petrecca's commentary, they would withdraw their signatures from their reports, links, and commentary from 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 9th, until the end of the Olympic Games; they will then go on strike for three days.[85]The editorial board, the internal journalists' representation, has requested that the union statement be read during the Olympic news broadcasts and on the programs "Mattina Olimpica" and "Notti Olimpiche." The CEO of RAI asked him to take responsibility for both the commentary of the Olympic opening ceremony and for the tense relations with the editorial staff.[citation needed]
National Anthem of Italy –Laura Pausini[27]
Olympic Anthem –Cecilia Bartoli,Lang Lang,Yo-Yo Ma.[28]
Anthem of Europe[29]
IPC –Andrew Parsons, President of theInternational Paralympic Committee[citation needed]
UN – António Guterres,Secretary-General of the United Nations[35]
Albania –Bajram Begaj,President of Albania[37]
Austria –Christian Stocker,Chancellor of Austria[37]
Belgium –Elisabeth,Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Belgium (representing her father,KingPhilippe)[37]
Bosnia and Herzegovina –Zeljka Cvijanovic,President of Bosnia and Herzegovina[37]
Bulgaria –Iliana Iotova,President of Bulgaria[37]
Canada –Adam van Koeverden,Secretary of State (Sport)[38]
Chile –José Antonio Kast,President-elect of Chile (representing PresidentGabriel Boric)[39]
China –Shen Yiqin,State Councillor of China (representing Chinese leaderXi Jinping)[40]
Croatia –Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, formerPresident of Croatia[37]
Czech Republic –Petr Pavel,President of the Czech Republic[41]
Denmark –Frederik X andMary,King andQueen of theKingdom of Denmark[37]
Estonia –Alar Karis andSirje Karis,President of Estonia[37]
Finland –Alexander Stubb,President of Finland[42]
France –Marina Ferrari,Sports Minister of France[43]
Georgia –Mikhail Kavelashvili,President of Georgia[37]
Germany –Frank-Walter Steinmeier,President of Germany[44]
Greece –Kyriakos Mitsotakis,Prime Minister of Greece[37]
Hungary –Tamás Sulyok,President of Hungary[37]
Jordan –Prince Faisal bin Hussein of Jordan (representing his brother,KingAbdullah)[45]
Latvia –Edgars Rinkevics,President of Latvia[46]
Lithuania –Gitanas Nauseda,President of Lithuania[37]
Luxembourg –Guillaume,Grand Duke of Luxembourg[37]
Monaco –Albert II,Sovereign Prince of Monaco[45]
Netherlands –Willem-Alexander,King of the Netherlands[48]
Poland –Karol Nawrocki,President of Poland[37]
Qatar –Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,Emir of the State of Qatar[45]
Serbia –Đuro Macut,Prime Minister of Serbia[37]
Slovakia –Peter Pellegrini,President of Slovakia[41]
Slovenia –Nataša Pirc Musar,President of Slovenia[37]
South Korea –Chae Hwi-young,Culture and Sports Minister of South Korea[49] (representing PresidentLee Jae Myung)
Spain –Felipe VI andLetizia,King andQueen of theKingdom of Spain[37]
Sweden –Victoria, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Sweden (representing her father,KingCarl Gustaf)[37]
Switzerland –Guy Parmelin,President of Switzerland[45]
Thailand –Suthida,Queen of Thailand (representing her husbandKingVajiralongkorn)[37]
United Kingdom –Anne, Princess Royal[50] (representing her brother,King Charles III)
United States –JD Vance,Vice President of the United States[51] (representing PresidentDonald Trump)
Australia
Brazil
Portugal
