The European Artisanal Gelato Day (or just "Gelato Day”), which has been celebrated on 24th March each year since 2013, was first thought up in 2008 by Longarone Fiere and Artglace. The idea took shape in concrete form in 2009 with an official presentation to the Parliament of Strasbourg by MEP Iles Braghetto, after being contacted by Longarone Fiere president Giovanni De Lorenzi and director Paolo Garna, following a campaign by Artglace President José Luis Gisbert Valls.
Although the initial draft failed to collect enough signatures (they needed half plus one) from European Parliamentarians, the creators of Gelato Day were not to be disheartened, and they achieved their goal with the help of other supporters such as MEPs Giancarlo Scottà and Antonio Cancian, who in turn promoted the campaign among their colleagues. Thus it was that in 2012, five MEPs from various parts of Europe submitted a formal request to establish European Artisanal Gelato Day: they were Sergio Silvestris and Paolo De Castro (Italy), Eva Ortiz Vilella (Spain), Ewald Stadler and Andreas Molzer (Austria).
On 5 July 2012, once the quorum was finally reached, with 387 votes in favour, the European Parliament officially established European Artisanal Gelato Day, underlining, among other reasons, that:
"of all fresh dairy products, artisanal gelato is a product of excellence in terms of food quality and safety, raising the profile of agri-food products in each individual Member State".
From 2010 to 2012, the event was run by Fausto Bortolot of Artglace, whose capacity and resoluteness helped overcome all bureaucratic obstacles and rules to hold an artisanal gelato tasting within the European Parliament building, with numerous parliamentarians coming along.
They achieved a very important goal: Gelato Day is the only "Day" which the European Parliament has so far dedicated to a foodstuff, the pride of all gelato makers and of a whole supply chain.