Latest news with #FestivalManagementGroup
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘She was our garlic queen': Nancy Stewart-Franczak, Garlic Fest cofounder and a culture pioneer, dies at 67
Nancy Stewart-Franczak, gregarious cultural titan of the Palm Beaches and the doyenne behind some of South Florida's most beloved food feasts — from the pungent South Florida Garlic Fest to the sprawling Delray Affair — has died. Stewart-Franczak, 67, who struggled in recent years through three rounds of chemotherapy, died on April 28 due to complications from liver and colon cancer, confirmed her husband, John Franczak. Her death was announced Monday by her longtime company, event producer Festival Management Group (FMG), along with a public celebration of life that will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 12, at Delray Beach Golf Club, 2200 Highland Ave. 'My incredible wife was incredibly organized with everything,' John Franczak told the Sun Sentinel via text message. 'She was just full of energy and grit and great ideas. I'm a little overwhelmed, but by God's grace we'll make it through.' Friends and colleagues referred to Stewart-Franczak, the executive director of Festival Management Group for nearly 30 years, as a 'workhorse' and a 'force of nature' who presided over troves of community events, including the Wellington Bacon & Bourbon Fest and LagoonFest in West Palm Beach. But the crown jewel of them all was the South Florida Garlic Fest, a stinky ode to the bulb whose national music headliners (Buddy Guy, Blues Traveler, Trombone Shorty, among others), helped morph Delray Beach in the late 1990s from a sleepy beach town into a destination. 'She was our garlic queen,' says Bern Ryan, FMG's chief financial officer. 'Without a doubt, she threw some of the biggest and best parties, and they were flawless. She had such an attention to detail. She'd give you a 40-page-long, minute-by-minute timeline detailing everything that was supposed to happen at any given festival. She never wanted to fail or disappoint.' Born in Pennsylvania, Stewart-Franczak began her career as a computer programmer for IBM, then ran a graphic design studio on Atlantic Avenue creating ads and logos for restaurants like Dada and food-service companies like Cheney Bros. That evolved into event production when one vendor at California's Gilroy Garlic Festival suggested she program a South Florida version. Ryan recalls the day in 1998 when he and Stewart-Franczak were in the room pitching what would become the then-named Delray Beach Garlic Fest — and a city official OK'ed the festival, but not before they 'laughed at it,' he says. 'They said to us, 'That's the stupidest idea I ever heard for a festival,'' Ryan recalls with a laugh. 'Couple of weeks later, Nancy drops off the check to pay for city services, and they just looked at her thunderstruck, like, 'Really? Are you serious?'' She was. About 8,000 festivalgoers passed through Garlic Fest's gates that first year — but Stewart-Franczak wasn't finished, expanding with other events outside the city. 'She believed in the power of events to make a positive difference in the lifeblood of a community,' wrote blogger Jeff Perlman, a former Delray Beach mayor and commissioner, in a blog post titled, 'A true friend.' 'Nancy was a wonderful person — hard working, sincere, funny, down to earth, loving and tough as they come. She took pride in Delray's progress.' Even if she and Delray Beach officials didn't always agree. As Garlic Fest's attendance grew, the city of Delray Beach in 2016 voted to curtail several public events, forcing Stewart-Franczak to rebrand and move the bash into different cities. She took that exodus hard, recalls FMG associate director Jennifer Costello. 'If there's one person who turned an entire city into a destination, it was Nancy with Delray Beach,' Costello says. 'She revitalized the downtown way before the hotels and touristy stuff came.' Leanne Morgan, a friend and contractor who's helped organize FMG events for 20 years, says Stewart-Franczak loved wine, travel and live music. At every festival, she would park her golf cart beside the stage apron, soaking in the sounds of bands at a volume Morgan calls 'Nancy-loud.' 'She wanted to be close enough so the music could rip her heart out of her chest,' Morgan says. 'You didn't bother her in the golf cart. After working so hard to program the events, that's how she relaxed.' Such was Stewart-Franczak's tireless ethic that she worked until her final moments. On the day she died, she met with the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, Costello says — and she persuaded the city to return South Florida Garlic Fest to Delray Beach after a nine-year absence. 'She had been low on energy that morning, but when the meeting finished, the lights came back on in her eyes,' Costello recalls, holding back a sob. 'Then she said to me, 'It's full-circle. We're back.' And I think that maybe, because she brought the festival back to Delray, she knew she was finally able to rest.' In lieu of flowers, donations in Stewart-Franczak's memory can be made to the Boynton Beach nonprofit EJS Project, which empowers youth in communities of color. To donate, go to
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What's new this year for the three-day Delray Affair arts and crafts event this weekend?
DELRAY BEACH — The Delray Affair is back for its 63rd year, this time with its footprint extended to Northeast Sixth Avenue. The event will attract more than 500 vendors to downtown Delray Beach from Friday, April 4 to Sunday, April 6. Booths will start in front of the Tennis Center at Northwest Second Avenue and stretch along Atlantic Avenue. The Delray Affair is presented by the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce and produced by Festival Management Group, also based in the Village by the Sea. It will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The event is one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the Southeast. For a weekend, it fills seven of the city's blocks with an eclectic mix of artwork, handcrafted goods and, of course, food and drinks. Visitors can expect to find anything from beach coverups to homemade apple pies, to gnomes dressed in their favorite teams' gear. Sponsors of the event, many of them local businesses, will have booths of their own. A Delray Affair information booth at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and First Avenue, where guests can purchase a commemorative poster, pick up event information or inquire about exhibitors at this year's event. A food court on North Swinton Avenue. An official merchandise booth, sponsored by Tropically Impaired, at the intersection of Swinton Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. During the event, parking will be $5 at the following garages: Old School Square Parking Garage at N.E. 1st St. & N.E. 1st Ave. Robert Federspiel Parking Garage at S.E. 1st Ave. between S.E. 1st St. & Atlantic Ave. Courthouse Parking Garage at S.E. 2nd Ave. & Atlantic Ave. All proceeds from parking at the Old School Square and Federspiel garages will benefit the Police Explorers nonprofit. There will also be free parking and shuttle service from the Palm Beach County Administrative Complex at 345 S. Congress Ave. For more information, visit Sign up for our Post on Delray Beach weekly newsletter, delivered every Thursday! Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@ and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Affair returns to Delray Beach with more than 500 vendors
