NYS Fair Butter Sculpture: Watch the unveiling of this year’s creamy artwork here

Geddes, N.Y. — The New York State Fair’s best-kept secret will no longer be a secret this morning.

Veteran sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton have barely left the refrigerated display case inside the Dairy Building for the past 10 days. They’ve been working feverishly in the cooler to take 800 pounds of butter and transform it into a work of art. The 56th annual American Dairy Association North East butter sculpture will be unveiled at 9:30 a.m. today. The Fair opens 23½ hours later, at 9 a.m. Wednesday and runs through Labor Day.

You can watch the unveiling live on syracuse.com’s Facebook page, or see it below. After the media event, we will post a story about the sculpture with photos on syracuse.com. We’ll be sure to give you plenty of warning to not proceed unless you actually want to see the sculpture before heading to the Fair.

The butter used for the sculpture comes from Batavia. After being gawked at during the Fair’s 13-day run, the butter will return to Western New York where it will be recycled into renewable energy at Noblehurst Farms in Pavilion.

Butter sculptures through the years:

1970: Dairy Princess and Butter Churn (William Clements)
1971: Commissioner of Agriculture and Cow (William Clements)
1972: Lifeguard and Girl (William Clements)
1973: Dairy Princess Coronation (William Clements)
1974: Carousel (William Clements)
1975: Juggler (William Clements)
1976: Little Miss Muffet (William Clements)
1977: The Magic Cow (William Clements)
1978: Kids on Skateboards (William Clements)
1979: Disco Dancers (William Clements)
1980: Milk Run Marathoners (William Clements)
1981: The “Real” Seal (William Clements)
1982: Dairy Do-Si-Do (William Clements)
1983: The Fitness Cycle (William Clements)
1984: Milk Bottle Centennial (William Clements)
1985: Soccer Player (William Clements)
1986: Darryl Strawberry (William Clements)
1987: Tom Sawyer (Raymond Mackintosh)
1988: Cow Jumping Over the Moon (Raymond Mackintosh)
1989: Wizard of Oz (Raymond Mackintosh)
1990: Original Fair Arch (Raymond Mackintosh)
1991: Boy with Double Dip Cone (Raymond Mackintosh)
1992: The Olympic Dream (Raymond Mackintosh)
1993: Kids from Camp Good Days & Special Times (Raymond Mackintosh)
1994: Pizza Tosser (Raymond Mackintosh)
1995: Everybody Loves Milk & Cookies (Duke Epolito)
1996: Everything’s Better With Butter (Sharon BuMann)
1997: The Ultimate “got milk” Moment (Sharon BuMann)
1998: Milk Memories (Sharon BuMann)
1999: Midnight Snacking (Sharon BuMann)
2000: Little Rascals (Sharon BuMann)
2001: Milk Maid: Queen for a Day (Sharon BuMann)
2002: The Pride of New York (Sharon BuMann)
2003: Mixin’ It With Milk (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2004: Love for the Land (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2005: Milk, Moms and Morning (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2006: Healthy Goals (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2007: Dairy Farming Today (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2008: Cow Jumping Over the Moon (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2009: Cow Power (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2010: Dairyville 2020 (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2011: Feeding Our Future (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2012: New York Goes for the Gold with Greek Yogurt (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2013: Getting Fresh with Local Dairy (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2014: The Great American Milk Drive (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2015: Thanks for the Milk, Moo York! (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2016: Milk Life Celebrates The Success of Team USA and the Athletes of New York State (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2017: Dairy Farmers’ Tribute to New York State Troopers (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2018: Your Milk Comes From A Good Place (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2019: Milk. Love What’s Real (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2020: Nourishing Our Future (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2021: Back to School, Sports and Play … You’re Gonna Need Milk for That (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2022: Refuel Her Greatness—Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Title IX (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2023: Dairy Every Day is a Healthy Way — Keeping Kids’ Health on Track” (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)
2024: TBD (Jim Victor and Marie Pelton)

If you’re looking for daily updates throughout the Fair, be sure to sign up for our daily NYS Fair newsletter.

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Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. (AND he pays for what he and his guests eat and drink, just so you know.) You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.