2026 Winter Olympics: Everything you need to know

The Paris 2024 Games made a lasting impression with a unifying opening ceremony, featuring powerful performances by artists such as Céline Dion and Lady Gaga . Building on this legacy, Milan-Cortina 2026 aims to offer a modern vision of the Winter Games . The opening ceremony, scheduled for February 6, 2026, at Milan's San Siro stadium, will revolve around the theme of 'Harmony', blending music, performing arts, and sport to celebrate the Olympic values ​​of equality, respect, and inclusion.

The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games will place music at its heart. Among the announced artists, maestro Andrea Bocelli will be one of the evening’s most notable guests. The internationally acclaimed Italian tenor returns to the Olympic stage following his appearance at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Turin Games. His voice, emblematic of Italy’s operatic tradition, will movingly embody a moment conceived as both universal and unifying.

Alongside him, Laura Pausini will deliver a performance celebrating the Italian spirit. An Italian artist with a truly international career, honoured with numerous accolades including a Grammy Award and several Latin Grammy Awards, she represents a form of music that transcends borders, languages and generations. Her presence underscores the organisers’ desire to spotlight an open, contemporary Italian identity.

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The ceremony will also welcome film personalities. Pierfrancesco Favino a major actor in Italian and international cinema, seen in The Count of Monte Cristo alongside Pierre Niney, will bring his narrative power and stage presence, while Sabrina Impacciatore, known for her theatrical and film work, recently revealed to international audiences in the latest season of The White Lotus, will contribute to the show. Finally, the participation of American pop star Mariah Carey, the first major international star announced, confirms the global reach of the ceremony. A global icon with an instantly recognizable voice, she symbolizes the universal language of music, capable of uniting very different audiences around a shared emotion, in the tradition of previous great Olympic ceremonies.

While Milan will be the symbolic heart of the Games with the opening ceremony, the competitions will take place at several venues in Lombardy, Veneto, and the Dolomites. The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will feature 16 disciplines across eight sports, for a total of over 100 events. Mountain events, such as alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing, will be held primarily in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Bormio, and Livigno, locations renowned for their infrastructure and experience hosting major international competitions. Ice sports, such as figure skating, speed skating, ice hockey, and curling, will take place in modern rinks in and around Milan. Among the anticipated highlights, the men's ice hockey tournament will mark the return of NHL (National Hockey League) players to the Olympic Games, a first since 2014, further enhancing the sporting appeal of this edition.

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With Milan-Cortina 2026, Italy aims to offer Winter Olympic Games that are accessible, spectacular, and deeply unifying. Between an opening ceremony featuring world-renowned artists and a sporting program rooted in iconic locations, this edition follows in the footsteps of recent major Olympic events while asserting its own unique identity.