A Cauldron for Milano and Cortina

A Cauldron for Milano and Cortina

By Philip Barker

The Olympic Flame is set to burn at Milan’s Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace) and at the Piazza Dibona in the centre of Cortina d’Ampezzo at the climax of the Opening Ceremony in a fortnight from now.

Construction has already begun on the cauldron structures designed by Marco Balich, the mastermind of the 2026 Ceremonies.

Inspired by the work of Leonardo da Vinci, the receptacles for the Flame are deliberately small for reasons of sustainability.

“We have a structure that starts small and goes big and represents sunshine.” Balich explained.

Two Flames have been lit at an Opening Ceremony 50 years ago in Innsbruck to symbolise that Innsbruck was hosting the Winter Olympics for the second time.

Flames have burned at other competition sites at previous Games. After the inaugural Relay to Berlin in 1936, a cauldron was lit at the sailing venue of Kiel and at Grunau for rowing. The idea was repeated at London 1948 when the Flame was taken to Torbay for the sailing competition.

There had also been auxiliary cauldrons at Winter Games in 1968, 1972 and at individual sports venues in 1988, 1992 and 1998. In 2002, at the Salt Lake City “Medals Plaza” a “Heroes’ Cauldron,” was the backdrop for the victory ceremonies.

The 2026 Ceremony will have the theme of Harmony, Armonia in Italian.

“It’s a beautiful word that starts in the Greek origin but it means different sounds that together are better or different actions that together create a better action,” explained Balich, “and will feature a parade of athletes simultaneously at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Pedrazzo.”

Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini are to perform at the Ceremony.

Carey is expected to sing a popular Italian number.

“Mariah Carey enthusiastically embraced the idea of singing a song in Italian. You will see the entire stadium singing along. She will enchant us, the cherry on the cake of a beautiful celebration of Italian Fantasia,” revealed Balich.

It will surely provide reminders of Torino 2006, the last time the Games were held on Italian soil, not least because Balich was also in charge of the production back then.

Bocelli performed “Ama Credi e vai” (“Because We Believe”) at the Closing Ceremony.

The opening that year also featured Sophia Loren, Carla Bruni and even a “doughnut” turn by a Ferrari and music from the great Italian composers.

Verdi Rossini and Puccini will be celebrated just as they were in 2006 when Luciano Pavarotti performed “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot as the grand finale.

Balich admits his involvement with Torino 2006 “changed” his life.

He was Executive Producer for the Opening of Rio 2016 and also for the 2019 Universiade in Napoli, the most recent major multi-sport event to be held in Italy.

His involvement with Milano Cortina included the handover ritual in Beijing.

This began with two dancers performing on stage as a map of Italy was projected around them, a signature technique which Balich used to good effect during the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony. It was also employed to introduce the pictograms for the 2026 Winter sports. The segment concluded with a video message, set to Rossini’s William Tell Overture, in which the words “welcome to the beauty of Italy, welcome to the sunny mountains of Italy” were spoken in Chinese by Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala and his Cortina counterpart Gianpero Ghedina,

Athletes in both cities will have the opportunity to participate in an Opening Ceremony of 2026

Over 1200 volunteers are also set to be involved, some of whom will take part in a sequence which will celebrate the centenary of the Olympic Winter Games first held at Chamonix in 1924.

A message of peace is also set to have great prominence.

“Now more than ever in my lifetime it is needed, we want to inspire the younger generation about the values of peace. We are going to put a lot of effort into how the Games can bring peace and how the Olympic Truce is a very valuable pillar of the future of the planet,” Balich explained.

“We all connect around the rings and we all connect around the Games. From a small country like Italy, we want to send this message with a big smile and a welcome to the world.”

Balich recalled the inspiration he had taken watching the Opening Ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics when Japanese conductor Seiji Osawa led a performance of choirs linked by satellite from around the world in Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Symphony No. 9.

Balich knows that an audience worldwide will tune in to watch their teams parade and also the moment the cauldrons are lit which he likened to “penalties at the end of the FIFA World Cup FInal.”

This is expected to be the climax of a Ceremony which is set to run for two and a half hours.

The idea of the principal Flame burning throughout the Games at a public location in the centre of the city was established at Vancouver 2010 and embraced by the Summer Games in Rio, Tokyo and Paris.

In 2022, instead of the traditional cauldron, an Olympic Torch was placed at the centre of an unusual snowflake shaped receptacle. During the Games, an identical “snowflake” held the Flame close to the Medals Plaza. This proved so difficult to see that sometimes it appeared to disappear, though organisers insisted the Flame never went out.

Even so, because of COVID-19 precautions, very few people were able to see it close up.

This year, the Flame will burn at both locations for the duration of the Games. Each cauldron is expected to attract visitors in a similar fashion to the “Vasque Olympique” at Paris 2024.

“It is going to be a spectacular object that will entertain, I expect it to become a viral social media sensation. It will become something that the younger generation will grasp,” predicted Balich.

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