The 2026 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies: what you need to know

Starting this week, All eyes are on Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Although some events have already been held, the Games officially kick off on February 6 and conclude on February 22. It will be followed by the Paralympics, which will be held from March 6 to 15.

The Olympic flame is scheduled to arrive in Milan on February 5 before heading to the San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony on Friday. During the Games, there will be two cauldrons of the Olympic flame, one in Milan’s Arco della Pace and the other in Cortina’s city centre. The flame will also be at Verona’s Olympic Stadium for the closing ceremony.

What to expect at the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony “represents the gateway to the Olympic Games, is remembered by everyone and defines the spirit of the Games,” says Andrea Varnier, managing director of the Milan Cortina Olympics.

And in 2024, for the Summer Olympics in Paris, the opening ceremony will be held on the Seine. The opening ceremony for this year’s Winter Olympics will also ditch a single stadium and will be held in multiple locations simultaneously. In addition to Milan, the athletes will also parade in Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.

This choice is designed to celebrate the fact that these Olympics are “spread out” and not just concentrated in one place (this is the first time this has happened), and then to allow athletes who have competitions the day after the ceremony to participate on an equal footing, which would not be possible, given the distances.

This time the Olympic flames will also spread. One cauldron will be lit in Milan’s Arco della Pace and another will be lit in Piazza Dibona in downtown Cortina.

This large-scale format represents “a new example that will be repeated in the future and will make us pioneers,” says opening ceremony director Maria Laura Yasconi.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games are usually huge spectacles filled with dancing, special effects and music. Celine Dion performed on the Eiffel Tower at the opening of the 2024 Summer Games. Friday’s ceremony will last several hours and should be watched by hundreds of millions of viewers. About 4,000 people will participate, including extras, technicians, designers and volunteers.

Details of the party scene were kept mostly secret. The overall theme is “harmony”, a symbol of the union between city and mountain, between nature and humans, and a nod to the dual location of the games, said creative director Marko Palic, head of Palic Wonder Studio.

Organizers also plan to use the opening ceremony as a time to highlight Italian historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus. There will also be a tribute to fashion designer Giorgio Armani. “We will highlight Italian talent, and what we do best: creating beauty and excitement,” says Yasconi.

What to expect at the closing ceremony

The Winter Games will conclude on February 22 with a ceremony held at the Arena di Verona. The Verona Arena, the oldest sports stadium in the world, has been chosen as a legacy for the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The organizing committee stressed the importance of the Verona Arena in Milan Cortina’s bid for the Olympic Games. This year’s Games will be the first time that the closing ceremony will be held in a different location than the opening ceremony.