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Photos: Highlights from the Winter Olympics opening ceremony

NPR | By Emily Bogle

Published February 6, 2026 at 3:36 PM EST

Italian ballet dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Friday.

Updated February 6, 2026 at 7:21 PM EST

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.

The performance paid homage to Italian music, art and culture with tributes to composers, visual artists and films in a colorful spectacle. Performers included Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, American singer Mariah Carey, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Italian rapper Ghali and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.

Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:

Copyright 2026 NPR

Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.

Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.

Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.

Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.

Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.

Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.

Two performers are suspended between two large rings.

The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.

Greece's flag bearer, Nefeli Tita, and other athletes representing Greece parade during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo.

Canadian athletes march into the stadium.

Colombia's flag bearer Fredrik Fodstad parades during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.

South Korea's athletes parade during the opening ceremony in Livigno.

An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.

Athletes of Team Haiti arrive during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Livigno. (Photo by / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Italy's flag bearers Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino parade with other athletes.

USA's flag bearer Erin Jackson parades with other athletes at the San Siro stadium.

Italian rapper Ghali (center) performs during the opening ceremony.

Final torchbearer Italian skier Sofia Goggia holds the torch of the Olympic flame next to the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich at Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

A general view of the Olympic flame in the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan.

Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.

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All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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