The Ohio State Fair's best-kept dairy secret has been leaked: the annual butter cow display's theme for 2018 is A Christmas Story.
Honoring the 35th-anniversary of the Cleveland-filmed holiday classic, sculptors used more than 1 ton of butter to recreate scenes and props from the movie like the infamous leg lamp, triple-dog-dare pole lick, Ralphie in his bunny pajamas and more.
It took butter sculptors more than 400 hours to create the complex scene, which will be on view 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily in the Dairy Products Building through Aug. 5. An estimated 500,000 people will tour the 45-degree Fahrenheit cooler to take in the moo-sterpiece in all its buttery glory. While there, fairgoers can also learn about state dairy farmers and eat ice cream, milkshakes and cheese sandwiches.
The annual creation of a butter cow and her calf at the Ohio State Fair is an honored tradition that’s half as old as the state itself, and this year is no exception.
If you’re unfamiliar with the practice, we’re talking about a a life-sized cow sculpted from butter, but there’s much more to this dairy delight than meets the eye. Sculpting begins with the construction of steel and wood frames, which will are then covered with layers upon layers of farm-fresh butter. The true task at hand begins when it’s time to mold and smooth the creamy lump into a perfect, seriously life-like cow.
Last year, a team of butter sculptors worked tirelessly to complete the dairy display, which included not only the cow and her calf, but also a six-foot bottle of chocolate milk and four high school athletes in the midst of playing various sports. (Chocolate milk is the official beverage of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.) The display took a total of 500 hours and a whopping 2,000 pounds of butter. Talk about playing with your food.
