EWC Opening Ceremony to Feature Aya Nakamura, DJ Snake, and Theodora

The musical performers for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 Opening Ceremony have been confirmed.

EWC 2026 will feature a $75m+ prize pool with 25 tournaments across 24 different esports titles, including League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, and Valorant.

Now that the EWC has moved to Paris, the Esports Foundation has hired three French performers for the ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony will take place in Paris at La Seine Musicale on July 8 and will feature Aya Nakamura, DJ Snake, and Theodora.

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Esports World Cup Opening Ceremony Artists

Last year’s ceremony was headlined by Post Malone, with performances by DINO of SEVENTEEN, Duckwrth, Telle Smith of The Word Alive, Alesso, and Tina Guo.

Now, a French trio will open the first iteration of EWC to be held outside of Saudi Arabia.

Aya Nakamura, nicknamed ‘The Queen of France’, has become one of the most influential French artists of her generation with over 16m monthly listeners on Spotify.

Nakamuru also performed at the Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2024, and has become popular for her combination of R&B, Afrobeats, zouk, and contemporary French pop.

Meanwhile, DJ Snake is a well-known name globally with just under 50m monthly listeners and huge songs like ‘Lean On’ with Major Lazer and ‘Let Me Love You’ with Justin Bieber.

Finally, Theodora is a breakout star as the 22-year-old blends rap, pop, and club music for her 7.6m monthly listeners.

What’s your favourite ever esports opening ceremony? Share your memories with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.

Additionally, the full Esports World Cup 2026 schedule is out now with a full breakdown of all seven weeks.