Gardaland, the most famous amusement park in Italy, located in Peschiera del Garda in the province of Verona, is celebrating an important milestone this year: its 50th anniversary. The original idea for an amusement park on the shores of Lake Garda was conceived in the early 1970s by Livio Furini, a musician and entrepreneur from Verona who was inspired by a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Upon returning to Italy, he purchased a plot of land in the municipality of Castelnuovo del Garda in 1971, chosen for the area's tourism potential. Founded in 1975, Gardaland has hosted around 100 million visitors over the decades and introduced a new form of tourism to Italy. In 2005, Gardaland was ranked fifth among the best amusement parks in the world by Forbes.