DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — April in South Florida can mean only one thing for Annabelle Lee.
"I've been doing the show, I believe, for 21 years," she said.
Lee said her beachy Key West crafts have been a hit at the annual Delray Affair.
"And what attracted me to it was Atlantic Avenue," she said. "It's such a beautiful venue for a show and it's been going on for 59 years."
Like so much in 2020, the Delray Affair was canceled because of the pandemic. This year, it's back, but the event won't be held in Delray Beach.
Instead, the reimagined Affair of the Arts will be held outside of the Boynton Beach Mall.
Lee wants a refund of her $1,100.
"The CEO of the chamber called me this morning because I had messaged so many people," she said. "She said since I get two booths, I can have one booth at the Affair of the Arts in Boynton and one booth at Delray Affair. I said that's not acceptable."
Lee said the event outside Boynton Beach Mall isn't what she signed up for.
"Ninety of the vendors have accepted the solutions," Stephanie Immelman, the CEO of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, said.
She said last year the chamber asked vendors to apply their deposits to a future event, to which Lee agreed.
"A lot of them are happy to have a venue to be able to go out, sell their art and I can totally understand that," Immelman said.
But as for those who want a refund?
"We're just not in the position to do that right now," Immelman said. "But I've talked to quite a few of them personally and we're hoping to have an event in Delray Beach in the fall."
Immelman said the main reason they're holding the event is to fulfill their obligations to the vendors.
But Lee said she's done with the Delray Affair.
