20 years later, Winter Olympics come home to Alps

The 25th Winter Olympic Games are officially set to start this Friday, February 6, in Milan, Italy.

This marks a historic return of the games to the Alps for the first time in 20 years.

In the history of winter games, these Olympics have been considered as the most geographically spread out.

There will be approximately 2,900 athletes from 90 nations participating in the Winter Olympic Games. The athletes will be competing across 16 disciplines over 19 days.

These Games, with a budget of 5.2 billion euros, are special in that they feature a number of firsts. Ski mountaineering, or “skimo,” will make its Olympic debut with sprint and mixed relay races.

Milano Cortina 2026 will also mark the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history, with the percentage of female athletes increasing to over 47%.

Although Norway is again the most favourite nation, the expectations for the United States, Germany, Canada, and the home nation of Italy are also high. The Games come to an end with the closing ceremony in Verona on February 22.

Date and Venue of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony 2026

The 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony is titled as “Armonia” will be live on Friday, February 6 at San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy. The ceremony will start at 8:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. ET). The ceremony will be broadcast on NBC and stream on Peacock.

Confirmed Stars to perform at the opening ceremony

Five-time Grammy Award winner Mariah Carey will perform in the opening ceremony. Other artists include Pierfrancesco Favino, Sabrina Impacciatore, Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli, Lang Lang, Cecilia Bartoli and Ghalli.