800 Pounds of Butter Has Arrived! Construction Begins on 2022 NYS Fair Butter Sculpture

The butter has arrived at the New York State Fair. More than 800 pounds of it. It's all to create the annual Butter Sculpture, one of Central New York’s best-kept secrets and most beloved attractions at the fair each year.

Sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, who have been carving the sculpture since 2003, have begun work on the 54th edition, using unsellable butter from Batavia, New York.

The butter used for the sculpture is out of specification for retail sale for a variety of reasons, so American Dairy Association North East works with the sculptors to put it to good use by creating a beautiful piece of art that thousands enjoy.

Recycled Butter

Even after the Fair, the butter doesn’t go to waste. Instead, it will be sent to Noblehurst Farms, a dairy farm in Pavilion, New York, where it will be recycled into renewable energy.

“I really love that this iconic attraction repurposes butter not just once, but twice – first by turning the unusable product into an artistic sculpture, and then after the fair, by recycling it into renewable energy on a dairy farm,” said John Chrisman, CEO, American Dairy Association North East.

The Annual Butter Sculpture will be unveiled on Tuesday, August 23, the day before the New York State Fair officially opens. You can watch the official unveiling on Facebook or see it on display in the Dairy Products Building for the duration of the 13-day Fair that opens Wednesday, August 24.

Butter Sculptures Through the Years

Take a walk down memory lane, and look back at the butter sculptures over the years at the New York State Fair.

The annual tradition began in 1969 when William Clements transformed a pile of butter into a cow jumping over the moon. The creators may have changed over the years but the butter sculpture remains.