This is the spirit behind the Cortina Welcome Team 2026, the volunteer program dedicated to welcoming tourists during the Games – an initiative of Cortina Marketing, implemented in collaboration with the Municipality of Cortina d’Ampezzo. Not just an operational support service but a true community of “ambassadors” of the valley: volunteers who know Cortina, share its values and are ready to get involved to represent its most authentic face.

For this reason, the Municipality of Cortina d’ Ampezzo invites all citizens, young and old, residents and afficionados of the area, to apply and become part of the Cortina Welcome Team 2026: a great team that will accompany the public to the places of interest, in the welcoming spaces and strategic points of the town, helping to make the experience of the Games easier, smoother and more human.

An educational and unique experience

Becoming a Welcome Team volunteer means experiencing the Games from the inside, helping to tell the story of Cortina and making every visitor feel welcomed and oriented.

To better prepare each participant, a training course of about 15 hours is offered, dedicated to:

● local knowledge, traditions, identity and history

● reception, public relations and cross-cultural communication

● mobility, venue, logistics and services during the Games

● Olympic values and community spirit

● basics of safety and audience management

Upon completion, each volunteer will receive a certificate and officially join the Welcome Cortina 2026 network, as per the official training program.

A recognizable, prepared, leading team

To best fulfill their role as ambassadors for the city, all volunteers will receive:

● a specially created uniform (jacket, fleece, hat)

● an operation kit with backpack and water bottle

● insurance, meal vouchers and logistical support during shifts

● training and official program materials

The commitment required varies according to shifts, but what counts is the spirit: availability, enthusiasm, and a desire to represent Cortina with pride and authenticity, in line with the values that guide the project.

Open applications

All information and the application form are available on the official website: https://cortina.dolomiti.org/cortinawelcometeam2026/

The City invites anyone who wishes to participate in this extraordinary adventure-students, residents, historic volunteers, sports enthusiasts, local connoisseurs, active people of all ages-to join this great team.

Statement by Deputy Mayor Roberta Alverà

“With the Cortina Welcome Team 2026 we are asking our community to do what has always set it apart: welcoming. Volunteers will not simply be organizational support but the first face that people from all over the world will meet when they arrive in Cortina.

Through this project we want to enhance the identity of our valley, its stories, its traditions and pass them on to those who will come here to follow the Games. Each volunteer will be an ambassador of Cortina, of its beauty but also of its mountain spirit, sense of community and respect for the territory.

It is an invitation open to everyone: to young people who want to prove themselves, to those who live and work here all year round, to those who love Cortina and want to give something back to it. Together we can build a reception that is up to a global event and leave a legacy that will go beyond 2026>>

L'articolo Cortina Welcome Team 2026: the community that welcomes the world proviene da Speciale Olimpiadi e Paralimpiadi.

These measures are active only on race days and during specific time slots, with the aim of ensuring the safety of the event and its spectators, while minimizing the impact on the daily lives of residents.

The areas covered by the Olympic and Paralympic ZTLs will be within the boundaries of the Municipality of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

During the periods of activation of the extraordinary LTZs, access will be allowed only to vehicles with the appropriate badge: the “Pass Auto Territori,” to be displayed on the windshield.

This system will guarantee free movement to all those entitled to the Auto Pass-residents, second-home owners, commuting workers, commercial and production activities, hospitality facilities and their guests, delivery or logistics services, and other authorized categories indicated in the platform-while restricting access to unauthorized vehicles.

This will make it possible to reconcile the holding of the competitions with local mobility, limiting the access of private vehicles to the most sensitive areas and encouraging the use of public transport, which will be enhanced for the occasion and which has always been one of the sustainability choices adopted by the Games Organizing Committee.

Important: Extraordinary LTZs will only regulate access to cities: therefore, it will always be possible to leave freely.

How to Apply for a Car Pass

The application for the Car Pass should be made through the platform https://passauto.milanocortina2026.org/it/

This tool will enable:

– consult in detail which territories will be subject to the Olympic and Paralympic ZTLs and in which time frames;

– Check whether one’s place of residence, work or interest falls within these areas;

– Be guided step by step until the application is submitted with the correct documentation. The documentation required for access is: the license plate of the car, the digital copria of one’s ID card, and the TARI.
Non-resident citizens who need TARI documentation can find it on the portal of the collection company SOLORI SPA which can be accessed through SPID at the following link: https://portal.sintaxinformatica.it/portal/solori/#/dashboard/home

Each request will be reviewed and, if valid, directions will be provided for picking up the Auto Pass at the dedicated points.

Two types of Auto Passes are provided:

• Multi-day passes

Aimed at residents, workers, logistics, accommodations, second-home owners and other categories that have a continuous need for access throughout the period of the Games.

The application for the Auto Pass can be submitted online from now until December 31, 2025. Please get active as soon as possible: the sooner you apply for the pass, the sooner you can collect it.

Pick-up must be done in person with an ID during the period between November 17, 2025 and January 15, 2026, by going to the Cortina Foundation offices located in Rome Square, next to the Infopoint. For info: mobilita@fondazionecortina.com

• Day passes

Intended for those who need occasional access (guests, deliveries, occasional suppliers and other categories).

The request for the Auto Pass can be made at any time, online or – when active – at the distribution points. The request for the daily Auto Pass can also be made for the same day, exclusively at the dedicated points.

Collection must be made in person during the Games period at dedicated points.

Without Pass

Vehicles without Auto Passes will only be allowed to pass through the gates during the hours when the Olympic and Paralympic LTZs are not active.

Platform Info
Check out the platform https://passauto.milanocortina2026.org/it/ to get all the detailed information and to proceed with your Car Pass application.

L'articolo Car pass: what it is for and how to get it proviene da Speciale Olimpiadi e Paralimpiadi.

For Milan Cortina 2026, the official flashlight is called “Essential” and was designed by Carlo Ratti Associati studio: it is made in Italy, made mostly of recycled aluminum and brass, weighs about 1,060 grams (not including the cartridge), uses bio-LPG, and above all is reusable and rechargeable up to ten times, so as to reduce the number of units needed; the Olympic version is blue, the Paralympic version bronze (project with Cavagna Group and Versalis/ENI).

The flashlight has always been carried by torchbearers-athletes, volunteers, civil society figures-and for the 2026 edition, about 10,000 bearers are expected in Italy along a 63-day, 12,000-km route that will touch all 20 regions and 110 provinces, with about 60 city celebrations.

The ignition in Olympia is set for November 26, 2025, the handover in Athens for December 4, 2025, and the arrival in Italy (Rome) on the same day; from December 6, 2025, the relay will cross the Peninsula until February 6, 2026.
On that date, during the Opening Ceremony, two simultaneous braziers will be lit: in Milan at theArco della Pace and in Cortina d’Ampezzo in Piazza Angelo Dibona-a novelty made possible by the “spread” opening among several venues of the widespread Olympiad.

The Olympic flame will then be extinguished on Feb. 22, 2026, at the closing ceremony in the Verona Arena, which concludes the Winter Olympic Games: One of the official flashlight specimens will enter the permanent collection of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, in keeping with the IOC’s museum tradition, while the specimens displayed throughout the year will remain the property of the Organizing Committee, which will display them in various exhibitions.

Soon after, on Feb. 24, 2026, the journey of the Paralympic flame begins. The Paralympic flame leaves from Stoke Mandeville (UK), cradle of the Paralympic Movement, then arrives in Italy for an 11-day, approximately 2,000-kilometer journey with 500 torchbearers.
The program includes stage festivals in several cities (including Milan) and a flame uniting moment in Cortina d’Ampezzo on March 3, before arriving at theArena in Verona for the Opening Ceremony on March 6, 2026.

The Paralympic Games will be held from March 6 to 15, 2026. Upon completion, this flame will also be extinguished at the closing ceremony and the relay materials will reenter the collections of the Paralympic Movement.

L'articolo From Greece to Cortina: the path of the Olympic and Paralympic Flame. proviene da Speciale Olimpiadi e Paralimpiadi.