Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics officially start with opening ceremony
Feb. 6 (UPI) — A handful of events began earlier in the week — curling, figure skating and ice hockey — but the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially got underway Friday afternoon in Italy.
The opening ceremony started at 2 p.m. EST at Milan’s historic, 100-year-old San Siro Stadium in Milan, a nearly 4-hour celebration of the Games that is expected to include a range of performances, the parade of nations and, finally, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
The Milano Cortina Olympics will be the first to include two venues in the opening ceremony and the first to light two caldrons for the Games: one in Milan at the Arco della Pace and another at Piazza Dibona in central Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Organizers have said that lighting two cauldrons is meant to represent harmony between the two cities of Milan and Cortina — which are jointly hosting the Games — as well as other areas that the Games are being held.
In addition to dance, light and special effects shows at San Siro, performances by Maria Carey, Andrea Bocelli, The White Lotus and The Paper star Sabrina Impacciatore, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino and Italian singer Laura Pausini have been announced.
Events at this year’s Winter Games have been spread among several towns in northern Italy, in addition to the two towns, which the Olympic ceremony director, Maria Laura Iascone, told NBC News is among the efforts of Italy chart “a new course” and innovate “a new spirit” of the opening ceremonies.
The Big Show
The majority of the intricate, ornate opening ceremony is being held at San Siro Stadium, which opened in 1926, has hosted several World Cup-linked events and is home to two Italian soccer clubs.
The Olympics is set to be its final event before the owners of those two teams demolish the stadium to build a newer, more modern facility for the two clubs.
In addition to San Siro, the cauldron will be lit elsewhere in Milan, and athlete parades are set to be held at other venues in the city as organizers have sought to show off Milan, Cortina and other parts of the country. Overall, there are 13 venues hosting Olympic competition this year.
The two cauldrons — at Milan’s Arco della Pace and Corina’s Piazza Dibona — are in addition to opening ceremony events in Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.
On top of splitting up the ceremonies, there are multiple Olympic villages that athletes are staying in, a decisions made so that they will not need to travel far between lodging, sporting venues and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Events get underway
The ceremony opened with the Italian Olympic Committee spotlighting the southern European country’s position as a “Winter wonderland,” which included video presentations of mountains and towns that gave way to dance routines focused on community, love and harmony, according to organizers.
The glittery winter look moved toward an ode to Italian operat with actors dressed as Gioachina Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini performing to Rossini’s William Tell Overture.
Maria Carey, who performed for free, sang the Italian classic “Volare” in Italian blended with some of her song “Nothing Is Impossible,” and wowed the crowd ahead of introductions of the President of Italy and of the International Olympic Committee were introduced.
In a significant tribute to legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani, dozens of models decked out in loose red, white and green suits — the colors of the Italian flag — filed out into the center stadium.
Model Vittoria Ceretti, who is also known for dating Leonardo Dicaprio, carried an Italian flag out to an honor guard before Pausini sang the Italian national anthem, “Fratelli d’Italia” and Favino recited the Giacomo Leopardi poem “L’inifnito.”
As dancers once again filled the center of the arena, two rings — with actors reclining on them — floated out to the stage. Once the actors got off the rings, they joined three others high above the crowd to form the Olympic rings.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates throughout the afternoon and evening.
