Visitors hoping to see the iconic butter sculpture at the State Fair this weekend were instead greeted by an American flag-shaped display of canned goods. The butter sculpture — a tradition that spans decades — was nowhere to be found.
The absence didn’t go unnoticed. Hundreds of Texans took to social media to bemoan the loss of their beloved butter sculpture.
“Ain’t no way I’m paying State Fair prices and there’s no butter sculpture,” one user commented on a TikTok video showing the canning display.
“This is an outrage!!” another commented.
The absence came as a surprise to the many Texans who have come to expect the creative dairy display at the fair. According to an article updated in August, the Visit Dallas website still pointed to the butter sculpture as a “hidden gem” at the fair.
“This year, expect a tribute to Stars, Stripes, and Howdies, the fair’s nod to its own 140th anniversary and the nation’s 250th,” the article read.
State Fair officials quickly responded to the noted absence, posting their own video on social media Sunday to explain the change. According to the video, the space that the fair creates and stores the sculpture needed “significant repairs,” and could not be fixed in time for this year’s festivities.
The nearly 1,000-pound sculpture is typically stored in a refrigerated workspace kept at a frosty 22 degrees. State fair leadership declined to comment on the type of problem that needed to be repaired.
While there will not be a butter sculpture at this year’s fair, the tradition is not gone for good.
“Yes, the space needed repairs, and the sculpture will be coming back,” state fair spokesperson Maureen Womack wrote in a statement, “but we cannot confirm exactly when!”