Notable Nighttime Celebrities Join the Iowa State Fair Butter Cow in 2024

DES MOINES, IA (07/11/2024) (readMedia)-- The iconic Iowa State Fair butter cow will share her cooler with notable nighttime personalities this year. Long time Iowa State Fair butter sculptor Sarah Pratt, along with her apprentices Hannah and Grace, will be sculpting the likenesses of Iowans Johnny Carson and Steve Higgins as well as a sky glider seat to commemorate the 50th year of the Main Sky Glider. Steve Higgins is the announcer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, so Jimmy Fallon will be joining the crew too.

Fallon, known for his on-air impressions, will get his own impression in butter at the 2024 Iowa State Fair. Fallon will be sculpted alongside the Tonight Show's announcer, producer and Des Moines, Iowa, native Steve Higgins in celebration of 10 years with Jimmy Fallon as the host of the show.

Another Iowa native will also be featured in butter – longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. Johnny Carson lived in Corning, Avoca and Red Oak as a child. Carson took over the Tonight Show in 1962 for a run that lasted three decades.

The butter cow, along with butter versions of Iowans Steve Higgins and Johnny Carson and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, will be featured alongside an iconic sky glider chair as the main Sky Glider celebrates 50 years in 2024. All of the sculptures will be on display in the John Deere Agriculture Building 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., during the Fair, August 8-18.

In 1911, J.K. Daniels sculpted the Fair's first butter cow, and in 2006, after 15 years of apprenticing under long time sculptor Duffy Lyon, Sarah Pratt of West Des Moines became the Fair's fifth butter sculptor. In addition to her first Butter Cow, Pratt has also crafted countless people, characters and icons in butter. For a listing of previous sculptures, visit https://www.iowastatefair.org/about/butter-cow.

# # #

Frequently ranked as one of the top events in the country, the Iowa State Fair is the single largest event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. Annually attracting more than a million people from all over the world, the Iowa State Fair, located at East 30th and East University, just 10 minutes from downtown Des Moines, is Iowa's greatest celebration with a salute to the best in agriculture, industry, entertainment and achievement. Catch Fair Fever at the Iowa State Fair, August 8-18, 2024. For more information, visit www.iowastatefair.org.