The Opening Ceremony: Cortina’s Olympic Moment

Alongside the official Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, scheduled for February, 6th at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo will experience its own highly symbolic and participatory Olympic moment. In the heart of the town, in Piazza Angelo Dibona, the lighting of Cortina’s Olympic cauldron is planned – a gesture of strong symbolic value that will bring the flame of the Games into the heart of the Dolomites. This will be a moment of celebration open to the local community, guests, and athletes, marking the official entry of the Queen of the Alps into Olympic time. The square will also host a number of institutional welcome and representation moments, with the participation of athletes and delegations competing in the events hosted in Cortina. An opportunity to experience the spirit of the Games up close and to share Olympic values in an urban space transformed into a place of gathering, celebration, and collective identity. This event does not replace the official Opening Ceremony, but rather complements it, making visible and tangible the distributed nature of the Milano Cortina 2026 Games – an Olympics ignited in multiple locations, engaging territories and communities at the heart of the event.