In Italy, it’s time to resume in-person business events such as trade fairs and conventions and to reopen amusement and theme parks
After months of Zoom meetings, virtual exhibitions, and temporary shutdowns, festivals and trade fairs, meetings and congresses, amusement and theme parks are back. Let’s discover what’s new this year.
Supersalone – Milan
Fiera Milano exhibition centre
Milan’s Salone del Mobile is the world’s largest and most important furniture fair and, with the related Fuorisalone events that take place around the city during Milan Design Week, draws around 500,000 people to the city every year. That’s why last year’s cancellation represented a significant loss to Milan, its hospitality industry and exhibiting companies.
In 2021, the fair comes back with a special format: the Supersalone will be open to non-professional visitors for the entire duration of the show (5-10 September) and, for the very first time, they will be able to buy exhibited products. Among the other revolutions to expect from this year’s event, we can mention a new layout where the traditional booths will be replaced by displays arranged on vertical modular walls. These walls, designed with sustainability in mind, will be dismantled and reused to avoid waste.
FICO Eataly – Bologna
The Porticoes of Bologna, just added to UNESCO’s Heritage List
FICO Eataly World, on the outskirts of Bologna, is among the largest theme parks in the world dedicated to food. The health emergency, with all its restrictions, was an opportunity to innovate the 150,000 sqm complex, which has been divided into seven areas dedicated to different Italian products such as salami and cheese, pasta, wine, oil. Now it offers about 60 “food-related experiences” including restaurants, bars, street food stalls, stores; but also beach volleyball and basketball courts, a minigolf course, multimedia shows, and a farm. Another novelty is represented by Luna Farm, an amusement park for children and adults.
Gardaland – Castelnuovo del Garda
Looking ahead to the future with optimism, Gardaland, one of Europe’s most visited amusement parks, took advantage of the closure to introduce new attractions and renovate old ones. The two additions are Legoland Water Park and Wonder Woman – The 4D Experience. While the latter, consisting in the 4D screening of some scenes from the movie, speaks for itself, the former is worth a few more words.
Legoland Water Park, the first Legoland water park in Europe, expresses the founding values of the LEGO brand – Fun, Quality, Imagination, Creativity, Learning – which are perfectly in line with Gardaland’s core values – Fantasy, Adventure, Magic. It has been designed for families with children aged 2 to 12: children are not allowed to enter Legoland Water Park unless they are accompanied by an adult and adults are allowed to enter only if they are accompanying one or more children under 12 years of age. In addition to the waterpark, Legoland hosts Miniland, an area where Italy’s most iconic monuments have been reproduced by using over 4 million LEGO bricks.