There’s something big coming to Niagara Square. And no, it is not a politically-charged drum circle inside a geodesic tent.

The Red Bull Butter Cup snowboard series will make an appearance in downtown Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 11 as part of the third annual Buffalo Winterfest + Powder Keg Festival. An impressive 25 tons of snow will be piled into Niagara Square—that’s right, Buffalo, we’ve reached the point where we’re importing snow—to transform our mild-mannered downtown district into a winter wonderland where the best local athletes and amateurs will pound the powder to earn cash prizes and bragging rights.

“We’re very excited to have the Red Bull Butter Cup series as a marquee event during the Powder Keg Festival this year,” Drew Cerza, festival organizer, said.  “It’s quite an opportunity for Buffalo to have this great event in the epicenter of the city, where we will showcase a group of our local athletes doing what they love to do: snowboarding.” 

One would be forgiven for asking what exactly a Butter Cup entails. According to our intensely-awake friends at Red Bull,  “...it’s all about how much style each rider can spread on the custom-built features also known as ‘butter pads’ which riders will utilize to lay out their best tricks. Riders can jib, bonk, tap and slide their way across a multi-featured pad, making sure to lay it on thick with a lot of smooth buttering.”

Riders will compete in a Pro/Am format. Overall style and creativity will help the cream rise to the top, so to speak. Only trick sequences that include buttering will count! Leave those other spreads at home.

On-site registration is open to the public from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. only and will be limited to the first 100 registrants. Participants under 18 are welcome but must have a legal guardian on-site to register.  The event will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with an awards ceremony directly following.

For more information, including full contest schedule and updates, visit www.redbullusa.com/buttercup and #rbbuttercup on Twitter and instagram.