2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony

For the Paralympics opening ceremony, see 2026 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony.

2026 Winter Olympics
opening ceremony

Part of 2026 Winter Olympics
San Siro will host the opening ceremony.
Date	6 February 2026;0 days ago (2026-02-06)
Venue	San Siro
Location	Milan, Italy
Also known as	Armonia (Harmony)
Filmed by	Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS)

The 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be held at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET) ^[1] on 6 February 2026 at San Siro in Milan, Italy. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings will include an artistic program showcasing the culture of the host country and city, the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

The Games will be formally opened  by the  President of Italy,  Sergio Mattarella. This is set to be the first Winter Olympics and first Olympic Games opening ceremony under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry.

Anthems

• National Anthem of Italy – TBD
• Olympic Anthem – TBD

TV coverage

The opening ceremony will be filmed by host broadcaster Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), with OBS distributing a "world feed" for rights-holding broadcasters to use. ^[2]

Commentators and hosts

• Italy
  • Rai 1: Paolo Petrecca ^[3] and Fabio Genovesi ^{[4] [5]}
• Brazil
  • TV Globo: Gustavo Vilani, Marcel Stürmer, Carlos Gil and Gil do Vigor ^[6]
  • SporTV and Ge TV: Luiz Carlos Jr., Jaqueline Mourão and Marcelo Lins ^[6]
• Canada
  • CBC Sports: Adrienne Arsenault and Ron MacLean ^[7]
• Czech Republic
  • ČT Sport: Michal Dusík and Miroslav Langer ^[8]
• Germany
  • Das Erste (ARD): Tom Bartels and Giovanni di Lorenzo. ^[9]
• United States
  • NBC Sports (NBCUniversal): Mary Carillo ^[10] and Terry Gannon ^[11]

Dignitaries in attendance

International Olympic Committee

Members of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic movement, not counting foreign representatives:

• IOC – Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee
• IPC – Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee

Host

• Italy –
  • Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy ^{[12] [13] [14]}
  • Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy ^[15]
  • Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan
  • Gianluca Lorenzi, Mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo

International

International organizations

• European Union - Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament ^[16]
• UN United Nations⁣ – ⁣António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations ^[17]
  • Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly ^[18]

States

• Albania - Bajram Begaj, President of Albania ^[19]
• Austria - Christian Stocker, Chancellor of Austria ^[19]
• Belgium - Elisabeth, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Belgium ^[19]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Zeljka Cvijanovic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina ^[19]
• Bulgaria - Iliana Iotova, President of Bulgaria ^[19]
• Canada - Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada (representing King Charles III and Governor-General Mary Simon) ^[19]
• Chile – Jose Antonio Kast, President-elect of Chile (representing President Gabriel Boric) ^[20]
• China – Shen Yiqin, State Councillor of China (representing Chinese leader Xi Jinping) ^{[21] [22]}
• Croatia - Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, former President of Croatia ^[19]
• Czech Republic - Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic ^[23]
• Denmark - Frederick X and Mary, King and Queen of the Kingdom of Denmark ^[19]
• Estonia - Alar Karis, President of Estonia ^[19]
• Finland – Alexander Stubb, President of Finland ^[24]
• France - Marina Ferrari, Sports Minister of France ^[25]
  • Laurence Auzière-Jourdan, First Stepdaughter of France (representing President Emmanuel Macron, host country of the 2030 Winter Olympics) ^[19]
• Georgia - Mikhail Kavelashvili, President of Georgia ^[19]
• Germany – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany ^[26]
• Greece - Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece ^[19]
• Hungary - Tamas Sulyok, President of Hungary ^[19]
• Jordan - Prince Faisal bin Hussein of Jordan ^[27]
• Latvia - Edgars Rinkevics, President of Latvia ^[28]
  • Evika Silina, Prime Minister of Latvia ^[29]
• Lithuania - Gitanas Nauseda, President of Lithuania ^[19]
• Luxembourg - Guillaume, Grand Duke of Luxembourg ^[19]
• Monaco - Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco ^[27]
• Netherlands – Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands ^[30]
  • Maxima, Queen consort of the Netherlands ^[30]
  • Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange ^[30]
• Poland - Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland ^[19]
• Qatar – Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar ^[27]
• Serbia - Đuro Macut, Prime Minister of Serbia ^[19]
• Slovakia - Peter Pellegrini, President of Slovakia ^[23]
• Slovenia - Nataša Pirc Musar, President of Slovenia ^[19]
• South Korea - Chae Hwi-young, Culture and Sports Minister of South Korea ^[31] (representing President Lee Jae Myung)
• Spain - Felipe VI and Letizia, King and Queen of the Kingdom of Spain ^[19]
• Sweden - Victoria, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Sweden ^[19]
•   Switzerland – Guy Parmelin, President of Switzerland ^[27]
• Thailand - Suthida, Queen of Thailand (representing her husband King Vajiralongkorn) ^[19]
• United Kingdom - Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom ^[27] (representing King Charles III)
• United States of America – JD Vance, Vice President of the United States ^[32] (representing President Donald Trump)
  • Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State ^[32]
  • Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California (representing Governor Gavin Newsom of California, host state of the 2028 Summer Olympics)
  • Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles (Host city of the 2028 Summer Olympics)
  • Tilman Fertitta, United States Ambassador to Italy ^[32]
  • Usha Vance, Second Lady of the United States ^[32]

References

1. "Schedule & Results". IOC . Retrieved 3 February 2026.
2. "Olympic Broadcasting Services Milano Cortina effort, by the numbers". NewscastStudio. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
3. "Cerimonia apertura Olimpiadi 2026, la Rai punisce Bulbarelli per lo spoiler su Mattarella: ci sarà Petrecca". www.virgilio.it (in Italian). 2026-02-04. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
4. "Olimpiadi, Mattarella come la regina Elisabetta: "Una sorpresa per la Cerimonia di apertura"". RaiNews. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
5. Fabbretti, Fabio. "Milano-Cortina 2026: copertura no-stop di Rai 2, in diretta tutti i giorni". DavideMaggio.it. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
6. "Gil do Vigor participará da transmissão da cerimônia de abertura dos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno na Globo - Portal Leo Dias". portalleodias.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2026-01-30. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
7. "CBC's Live Coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 Kicks Off on February 6 with the Opening Ceremony". CBC Media Centre. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
8. "Program olympijského vysílání ČT sport a ČT sport Plus". sport.ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-02-03.
9. "Vorschau: Sportschau Olympia 2026 • Eröffnungsfeier". www.ardmediathek.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
10. "Savannah Guthrie Is Not Co-Hosting Olympics Opening Ceremony as She Awaits News About Her Mom Nancy". NBC. 2026-02-04. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
11. Zaccardi, Nick. "Savannah Guthrie, Terry Gannon to host NBCUniversal's Opening Ceremony coverage of Milan Cortina Olympics". NBC Sports. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
12. "Mattarella to open Milan-Cortina Games". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 16 October 2025. Archived from the original on 28 October 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
13. "Italy's president to declare 2026 Games open". Inside the Games. 20 October 2025. Archived from the original on 27 October 2025.
14. "Il Presidente Mattarella sarà tre giorni a Milano: il 2 alla Scala per Sessione CIO, il 5 al Villaggio. Il 6 inaugurerà Casa Italia, poi l'apertura dei Giochi". www.coni.it. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
15. "Milano Cortina 2026, Meloni presente alla cerimonia di apertura delle Olimpiadi". Adnkronos. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
16. "Agenda of the President" . Retrieved 2026-02-03.
17. "Press Release – Official Presentation of Credentials to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by Italy's new Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Giorgio Marrapodi". Italyun.esteri.it. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
18. "Press Release – Meeting between Permanent Representative Giorgio Marrapodi and President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock". Italyun.esteri.it. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
19. "President, leaders and others at the Ceremony". 2026-03-02. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
20. "Meeting with the President-elect of Chile" (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
21. "Milano-Cortina, a rappresentare Cina a inaugurazione Shen Yiqin". askanews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-02-02.
22. CGTN. "Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin to visit Spain, attend opening ceremony of 2026 Winter Olympics". news.cgtn.com. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
23. "Pellegrini and Pavel will attend the Olympics" . Retrieved 2026-02-03.
24. "Presidential couple to attend Olympic 2026" . Retrieved 2026-02-03.
25. Déplacement de Marina FERRARI en Italie du 5 au 8 février
26. "German President Steinmeier to attend Olympic opening ceremony". Yahoo News. 2026-01-28. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
27. "Heads of state and government in attendance". Yahoo News (in Italian). 2026-01-19. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
28. "President Edgars Rinkevics attends XXV Olympics" . Retrieved 2026-02-03.
29. "President, PM pack their bags for Italy trips" . Retrieved 2026-02-03.
30. "Prinses Amalia samen met koningspaar bij Olympische Winterspelen". RTL.nl (in Dutch). 2026-01-21. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
31. "Sports minister to represents Korea at opening ceremony" . Retrieved 2026-02-04.
32. "JD Vance to lead US presidential delegation at Milano Cortina Winter Olympics". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2026.