SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — It’s finally here, the 2023 New York State Fair Butter Sculpture is complete, and the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) unveiled it today.
This year’s sculpture will be the 55th Butter Sculpture in the history of Great New York State Fair.
This year’s theme: Dairy Every Day is a Healthy Way
The butter sculpture is crafted out of 800 pounds of butter every year and marks as the unofficial start of the Fair. It’s also by far one of the biggest attractions at the Fair.
Sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton come to the Fair from Pennsylvania and have been shaping the butter at the Fair for 21 years combined.
The butter that Victor and Pelton use comes from O-AT-KA Milk Products in Batavia in western New York and comes from product that didn’t meet retail specifications so it’s put to good use by the sculptors.
Those in attendance at the event included:
- Diana Dibble, ADANE
- Richard A. Ball, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner
- Sean Hennessey, Director New York State Fair
- Evelyn Ingram, Director of Community Relations, Wegmans Food Markets
- Butter Sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton
- Audrey Donahoe ATRASS Farm (Clayville, N.Y.), ADANE President, National Dairy Council Chair
After the Fair ends, the butter is recycled and made into renewable energy at Noblehurst Farms in Pavilion.
