World’s Largest Cheeseboard

Wisconsin made un-brie-lievable history by creating the World’s Largest Cheeseboard, officially setting a new Guinness World Records title on Aug. 1. The show stopper took over an entire street in downtown Madison, displaying over two tons of Wisconsin’s finest cheeses from across the state, topping the previous European record holder by over 1,000 pounds. Spanning 35 feet long and 7 feet wide, the custom board was officially adorned with 4,437 pounds and 145 different varieties, types, and styles of Wisconsin’s unique specialty and artisan cheeses — including national and international award-winners. An enormous Henning’s 2,000-pound mammoth cheddar wheel was the grand centerpiece, surrounded by blue-veined and cave-aged cheddars to fresh feta, squeaky curds and hand-rubbed wheels to pungent Brick and the 2017 U.S. Cheese Champion, Sartori Black Pepper BellaVitano, to name just a few. The gigantic cheeseboard was custom made to fit inside a life-size, digitally fabricated barn by Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit that uses urban design to foster community. The ultimate cheese lover’s fantasy was a true team effort, taking over 60 people to prep, transport, house, style, and weigh all of the cheeses. Following the official judging ceremony by a Guinness World Records adjudicator, a crowd of over 45,000 attendees got to check out the mouth-watering board, and the first 2,000 guests in line received a curated cheese plate to-go. In addition, no cheese went to waste. Spectators entered a raffle to win full wheels of cheese with 100% of the proceeds going to the Great American Milk Drive, and the remaining cheese was donated to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, both benefiting families in need. For information on getting your event featured in the IB Gallery, email jason@ibmadison.com.)