Musical Performances and Dual Cauldrons Mark Milano Cortina 2026 Opening

The opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games Milano–Cortina 2026 took place on February 6 and immediately set the tone for the Games as a cultural and spatial experiment. Music, symbolism, and decentralization emerged as the defining themes of the evening.

The event was marked by performances from global music icons — Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and American singer Mariah Carey. Carey presented a medley that included an adapted version of the classic song Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu) alongside her own track Nothing Is Impossible. The choice of repertoire underscored a dialogue between eras and cultures — from Italy’s musical heritage to contemporary pop expression.

The ceremony unfolded under the motto Armonia (“Harmony”), symbolizing the unification of diverse elements — geography, art, sport, and technology.

The innovative format of the Games, the most geographically distributed in the history of the Winter Olympics, required the ceremony to take place simultaneously across four locations: Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo. The central stage was set at San Siro Stadium in Milan, where around 60,000 spectators gathered.

The climax of the evening was a historic moment — the simultaneous lighting of two Olympic cauldrons: one in Milan at the Arco della Pace and the other in Cortina d’Ampezzo at Piazza Dibona. These kinetic cauldrons, created in partnership with the company Fincantieri, reference Leonardo da Vinci’s knot patterns, symbolizing the connection between nature, movement, and human intellect.

Alongside the main show at San Siro, the Parade of Nations took place, featuring athletes from 92 National Olympic Committees, highlighting the scale and diversity of the Olympic community.

Produced by Balich Wonder Studio under the direction of Marco Balich, the ceremony paid tribute to Italy’s cultural heritage — from opera to fashion — while simultaneously presenting a manifesto of interconnectedness. The athletes’ procession through multiple cities emphasized the organizers’ intention to involve local communities in a shared Olympic celebration.

The final torchbearers were Italian sports legends Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni, and Sofia Goggia, who lit the cauldrons after the completion of the Olympic flame’s 63-day journey across Italy.

What did this event add to the sound of the planet?

Two cauldrons lit at the same moment, and four cities bound by a single narrative, transformed Italy into a living musical score — where each region became not a backdrop, but a voice. Music here was not decoration, but a way of gathering distant points into one rhythm, as if the planet itself began to sing, if only for a moment.