Dozens of children were involved in the unveiling ceremony in Glebe Park which included a catchy Mary Poppins medley sung by the Southern Highlands Youth Arts Council choir.

The statue is dedicated to Mary Poppins creator, author Pamela Lyndon Travers, who lived in Bowral from 1907 to 1917 during her early years.

Artist Tanya Bartlett was commissioned to create the statue. She was also the artist who created the town's statue of Sir Donald Bradman.

The author, who died in 1996, once attempted to have a statue of her fictional nanny erected in New York in the 1990s.

Travers commissioned British artist Sean Crampton to place on paper her vision for the statue. Unfortunately her dream wasn't realised in her lifetime.

Yesterday NSW Minister for Industry Bob Baldwin, who was at the unveiling ceremony with NSW Governor Marie Bashir, said the Bowral statue was the first time that a public monument had captured Travers' vision for the character.

"When she first imagined Mary Poppins and created the character, this is who she saw," he said in a statement.

Mr Baldwin said the statue would be a drawcard for attracting tourists to the region.

The statue was made possible thanks to a $26,000 federal government grant.