South Florida Sun Sentinel
Apr 04, 2022 5:48 PM
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Sun Sentinel.
Delray Affair is back in a big way.
More than 400 artists and crafters will sell their work at what will be the 60th anniversary show of decorative designs and handicrafts staged over 12 blocks in downtown Delray Beach April 8-10. Admission is free.
“It’s one of the things that makes Delray [into] Delray,” says Stephanie Immelman, president and CEO of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, the organizer of the event. “It’s amazing to think that when we started in 1962 they used to board up the [businesses] on Atlantic Avenue after season. That’s how dead it was. That’s when we started [Delray Affair] to extend the season a little bit longer. It’s a venerable event that people have grown up going to.”
Since Delray Affair started in the 1960s, many businesses in the downtown area are decorating their storefronts with ‘60s themes, especially flower power motifs.
“Flower power was a common theme [in the ‘60s],” adds Immelman. “We are celebrating the tone of those times for the 60th anniversary celebration.”
The floral theme works on another level since a pre-cursor of Delray Affair was Delray Beach’s Gladiola Festival, according to Nancy Stewart, executive director of Festival Management Group, which helps produce the annual event.
“We are trying to transform the downtown area into ‘60s flower power,” continues Stewart. “For six months we met with [downtown businesses] to get everyone involved in the celebration and … we asked them to decorate and have their staff dress to theme. And the vendors, too. Our staff will be dressing like the ‘60s and the golf carts we have carrying people around will be decorated, too.”
Because of the pandemic, the event was canceled just two weeks before it was scheduled to take place in April 2020.
And last year’s staging was different. Instead of taking place in Delray Beach, a version was mounted at Boynton Beach Mall and retitled Affair of the Arts.
“It was very successful,” recalls Stewart. “It was packed. We were happy to do it. And now we have this big return, a big celebration. Clearly Delray has changed quite a bit since then. So many people have moved here and so many businesses have opened here.”
Delray Affair from 2018. This year Delray Affair will return to downtown Delray Beach April 8-10 after being staged under a different name at Boynton Beach Mall last year. Nicknamed the “Greatest Show Under the Sun,” the Delray Chamber of Commerce’s award-winning festival is the largest arts and crafts show in the southeastern United States, stretched along 12 blocks of downtown Delray Beach. (Mark Randall / Sun Sentinel)
The food court will be bigger this year
In addition to all the new residents, stores, eateries, bars that have been invited to participate in Delray Affair with shopping specials, pop-ups and 1960s decorations, there will be more food and beverage vendors this time around.
The Weekender – South Florida Events Newsletter
Weekly
Get a roundup of the best events and things to do in South Florida so you can make it an epic weekend.
Because of construction on the George Bush Boulevard drawbridge, Delray Affair cannot spread out east of northbound Federal Highway as in years past because the Atlantic Avenue bridge has to remain open to vehicular traffic. So now 120 booths have been relocated to the Old School Square area and the beer garden has been expanded.
“We ended up making a big food court area on Swinton, adjacent to the beer garden and entertainment,” explains Immelman. “It actually worked out well.”
What else is new this year?
For the first time in many years the Kids Zone is returning with storytelling, face-painting, step dancing performances and West Palm Beach’s Digital Vibez mobile unit with interactive singing and dancing.
Artist Beverly Cambronne sits among futuristic sculptures that her and her husband created during the Affair of the Arts (a.k.a the Delray Affair) at the Boynton Beach Mall on Friday April 9, 2021. The affair features over 450 artists and crafters, food vendors, adult beverages and music. This year Delray Affair will return to downtown Delray Beach April 8-10. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
