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The 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games will (formally) begin today with an Olympic first: an opening ceremony in more than one venue.

More than 1,200 performers will take the stage at the historic San Siro stadium in Milan, but they'll be sharing the spotlight with three ski resorts across northern Italy: Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo. 

Two Olympic cauldrons will be lit at the same moment in Milan and Cortina, which makes tonight's event the first "widespread ceremony" in the history of the Games.

Here's what else to know:

Who's carrying the flag for Canada?: Olympic veterans Mikaël Kingsbury and Marielle Thompson will lead Team Canada tonight.

Who's performing?: Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli and Sabrina Impacciatore are all on the list.

Lia Pereira, a 21-year-old from Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, a 29-year-old from Trenton, Ont., are making their Olympic debut. Pereira's father is Italian, but she said she had never been to Italy before. 

Michaud held up a bracelet athletes have been given, saying he wasn't sure yet what purpose it would serve: "Expecting Coldplay or Taylor Swift vibes," he said.

We just heard a 10-minute warning announcement here at the San Siro – the show is about to begin!

Beckie Scott said there’s something "totally inspiring" about your first Olympics.

"Everything is new and it's huge and it's magical and it's just so big," said Scott, who won gold in cross-country at Salt Lake City 2002.

Four-time hockey gold-medallist Hayley Wickenheiser agreed, but said returning athletes may be less awed by "the extravaganza of it all" and more focused on performance. 

"As you go through your career, it's like, is the bed comfortable? Is the food good? There are different questions," she said with a laugh.

What doesn’t change, Wickenheiser said, is the feeling of being on Team Canada and getting to "integrate with all the other sports and the athletes and cheer for them, and feel their pain and their joy." 

Clara Hughes, Canada’s flag-bearer for Vancouver 2010, said she'll "never forget being handed our flag and looking back and seeing the sea of red behind me."

"I felt like everyone was there from coast to coast to coast. And it was incredible," said Hughes, a cyclist and speed skater who won medals at both winter and summer Olympics.

We just got a peek at the Canadian women’s hockey team's outfits from veteran forward Natalie Spooner, who’s attending her fourth Olympic Games.

The team has been very active on social media since the players arrived in Milan. My personal favourite? Spooner’s chocolate rankings. Today she reviewed the chocolate lava cake that everyone’s talking about.

We’re less than 30 minutes from the start of the show in the San Siro. 

Music is now playing full blast. Dancers are on stage. The hype hosts are on the stage and just tested the LED wristbands that fans in the stands are wearing — it looks like that will be part of the light show.  They also shouted out the performers who will take the stage soon: Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli. 

The stadium isn't at capacity yet from our vantage point, but many of the sections are getting filled up.  

The ceremony itself begins in half an hour.

This fan decked out in red, white and maple leaf travelled from Ancaster, Ont., to cheer on Team Canada tonight. He said now is the time to be a loud and proud Canadian.  

I’m Kris Reyes, inside the San Siro stadium in Milan, where the gates are now open for the opening ceremony. On the field are hints of what's to come: a winding runway with giant white sculptures, a nod to Milan’s fashion, art and design roots. 

Some spectators are already in their seats. Last-minute deals were given to volunteers in hopes of filling the roughly 75,000 seats available for the show. 

Spotted practising on the ground are Olympic mascots Milo and Tina. The two teenage stoats — a member of the weasel family native to the Italian alps — represent the host cities of Milan and Cortina. 

While I've been standing at the Arco della Pace, tourists and Olympic fans have been streaming through to take pics of the cauldron. 

It was easy to spot Rene Bellavalance in the crowd as he was wearing his Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey. He says he wore it because he was hoping it would stand out and help him connect with other Canadian fans, but he's disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz in the air.

"It's exciting to be here, but I wish the city would be more hyped kind of like Vancouver in 2010," he said. 

"I think it will be better once more events have started and especially tonight after the opening."

Bellavalance says has tickets to watch Italy face off against Sweden in men’s hockey. While he believes Sweden will easily win, he said he wanted to teach them how to cheer "the Habs way."

We do have a little bit more information about the cauldron-lighting now. 

Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two of Italy's most successful alpine skiers, have been tipped for the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldrons, but the names of those involved and the format have not been disclosed.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Tomba is tasked with lighting the cauldron at Milan's Arco della Pace near San Siro soccer stadium, while Compagnoni will do the honours at the second cauldron in Piazza Dibona.

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