Dismaland opened on August 21, 2015, in the abandoned Tropicana lido in Weston-super-Mare, built in secret under the cover story of a film shoot. Banksy called it "a family theme park unsuitable for children" — a dystopian anti-Disneyland complete with a dilapidated fairy-tale castle, a grim-reaper bumper-car, and deliberately surly staff. He created roughly ten new works of his own and invited 58 other artists, among them Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jimmy Cauty and David Shrigley.
Over five weeks, 150,000 people paid £3 a ticket to get in. The town's economy got an estimated £20 million boost. When it closed on September 27, the timber and materials were shipped to Calais to build shelters for refugees. It was funny, bleak, generous and unrepeatable — and it minted a generation of Banksy collectors overnight.
Here's the catch that defines this entire guide: the show's cultural weight created enormous demand for a piece of it, and the market filled that demand with fakes. "Original Dismaland canvases," sprayed cardboard "souvenirs," and homemade certificates now blanket eBay. Understanding what was actually official — and what Banksy's own authentication body will and won't touch — is the whole game.