Butter believe it: Illinois State Fair kicked off with unveiling of 800 pound butter cow

SPRINGFIELD (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - You know it’s almost state fair time when they unveil the butter cow.

Governor Pritzker, First Lady MK Pritzker, and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton presided Wednesday, a day ahead of the Illinois State Fair’s opening day,  over the unveiling of this year’s butter sculpture. It’s the 103rd butter cow.

“Everything I love is right in this building: the butter cow and ice cream,” said Stratton, who chairs the State’s Rural Affairs Council. “I always say it - ag connects us all. Look at how the state fair brings us together, gives us an opportunity to share an ice cream cone, to make memories with our children and our families, and that’s what we are doing over the next ten days, all while uplifting our state’s largest industry.”

The sculpture this year, created for the eighth straight year by Sarah Pratt of Iowa, depicts the cow next to a magician who is pulling a seven-scoop ice cream cone from a hat, befitting the 2024 fair’s theme, “It’s Showtime!”

The cow sculpture is 800 pounds of recycled unsalted butter.

The Illinois State Fair in Springfield runs Aug. 8-18.

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