Olympics Opening Ceremony 2026, Time TV Schedule, Live Stream and Kickoff Info

Friday will bring the official opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics, jointly hosted by the Italian cities Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The Milano Cortina Games are already underway, of course, but Friday's festivities will lead into the first medal events of the games. In all, 116 medal events will be held in eight winter sports and 16 disciplines.

While this year's Olympics will be hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the games will involve several other areas in the surrounding regions. However, Friday's ceremony will primarily take place at San Siro Stadium in Milan.

Here's a quick rundown of this year's opening ceremony and first week of Olympic action.

2026 Olympics Opening Ceremony

Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images

Date: Friday, February 6

Time: 2 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CET)

Location: San Siro Stadium in Milan

TV: NBC

Live Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, NBC Sports app

Preview

Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images

San Siro Stadium

The opening ceremonies will begin at 8 p.m. local time at San Siro Stadium, home of AC Milan and Inter Milan. While the stadium will serve as the main stage for the festivities, events will be held at multiple locations.

This year's opening ceremonies will also feature two lightings of the Olympic Cauldron—or, in this case, Cauldrons. The cauldrons will be inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, according to Olympic.com:

"The cauldrons' designs stem from Leonardo da Vinci's knots, the iconic interwoven patterns of lines appearing in several of his artworks, engravings, and writings, as a tribute to the artist's legacy in Milan. A Tuscan native, da Vinci landed in Milan in the 1480s, where he painted the infamous The Last Supper in the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent."

One lighting will take place at Milan's Arco della Pace with the other at Cortina's Piazza Dibona.

Music will play a central role in the opening ceremony. According to Olympics.com, the evening's list of performers includes Grammy-winning pop icon Mariah Carey, and Italian rapper Ghali.

Costumes will also be used to convey Italy's cultural history and Milan's status as a fashion capital. From Olivia Allhusen of CBC:

"The spectacle will feature 182 original designs, more than 1,400 costumes and 1,500 pairs of shoes, brought to life by a backstage army of 110 make-up artists and 70 hair stylists."

The ceremony will also feature the parade of athletes and the raising of flags. It will mark the end of Friday's activities and the start of a weekend that will feature events like figure skating, curling, and alpine skiing.

NBC will rebroadcast the opening ceremony on Friday evening at 8 ET.

Broadcast Schedule for Opening Weekend

All Times ET

Full broadcast and streaming schedule can be found at NBCOlympics.com.

Friday, February 6

Opening Ceremony with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET (NBC)

Saturday, February 7

4 a.m.

Curling: Great Britain vs. Canada (USA)

4:30 a.m.

Women's Freeski Slopestyle: Qualifying (USA)

5:30 a.m.

Men's Downhill Skiing (USA)

7 a.m.

Women's Skiathlon* (NBC)

8 a.m.

Men's Freeski Slopestyle: Qualifying (NBC)

9:30 a.m.

Curling: Great Britain vs. USA (USA)

10:05 a.m.

Speed Skating: Women's 3000m (NBC)

10:40 a.m.

Women's Hockey: USA vs. Finland (USA)

11:30 a.m.

Women's Freeski Slopestyle: Qualifying (NBC)

12:45 p.m.

Men's Singles Luge (NBC)

1:30 p.m.

Men's Snowboard Big Air* (USA)

1:45 p.m.

Team Figure Skating: Men's Short (NBC)

2:45 p.m.

Men's Singles Luge (USA)

3:10 p.m.

Women's Hockey: Switzerland vs. Canada (USA)

3:15 p.m.

Men's Snowboard Big Air* (NBC)

4 p.m.

Team Figure Skating: Free Dance

8 p.m.

Women's Normal Hill Skiing (USA)

9 p.m.

Women's Hockey: Sweden vs. Italy

Sunday, February 8

3 a.m.

Men's & Women's Parallel Giant Slalom (USA)

4:55 a.m.

Mixed Doubles Curling (USA)

5:30 a.m.

Women's Downhill Skiing (USA)

6:45 a.m.

Women's Skiathlon* (USA)

7 a.m.

Men's Skiathlon* (NBC)

7:30 a.m.

Men's & Women's Parallel Giant Slalom* (NBC)

8:30 a.m.

Curling: USA vs. Estonia

8:45 a.m.

Mixed 4x6Km Relay* (NBC)

9:20 a.m.

Women's Downhill Skiing (NBC)

10 a.m.

Men's 5000m* (NBC)

10:30 a.m.

M&W Parallel Giant Slalom: Finals Re-air (USA)

11 a.m.

Men's Singles Luge (USA)

12:30 p.m.

Men's Singles Luge* (USA)

1:30 p.m.

Figure Skating: Pairs Free (USA)

2:45 p.m.

Figure Skating: Women's Free (USA)

3:55 p.m.

Figure Skating: Men's Free* (USA)

5 p.m.

Curling: USA vs. Estonia (CNBC)

5 p.m.

Women's Hockey: Czechia vs. Finland (USA)

6:30 p.m.

Women's Snowboard Big Air (USA)

7 p.m.

Curling: USA vs. Sweden (USA)

8:30 p.m.

Women's Hockey: France vs. Sweden (USA)

9 p.m.

Curling: Italy vs. Great Britain (CNBC)

*=Medal Event