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It's the rare person who ushers in a story about cancer by saying, "This is funny. Really."

But that's Mary Ann Weems.

And funny it is.

As she tells it, Weems' longtime business partner, Laurie Fernandez, wanted to retire 10 years ago from running the huge annual Weems International Artfest.

Weems, a cancer survivor, says she warned Fernandez that if she quit, Weems would again get cancer. Fernandez stuck to her decision.

A year later, Weems went to the doctor. "I had it again," Weems says. "So Laurie had to come back. She tried to retire, but I said `You retire, I die.' She's been with me ever since. It's all about the guilt. I love it. It was the best cancer I've ever had."

Fernandez, hearing the story, shakes her head. "She's impossible," she laughs.

Fernandez's job is a big one. The Artfest, launched by Weems 24 years ago, a year after she opened Weems Galleries in Albuquerque, continues to grow. This year's arts and crafts show, running today through Sunday, features 286 artists, the most the Manuel Lujan Building at Expo New Mexico can hold.

Once invited, an artist cannot be dropped unless his or her work changes dramatically. Some leave on their own, but there are few openings. "We had 2,000 artists apply for about 28 openings this year," Weems says.

What the artists get is a chance to have their work seen by the 35,000 to 55,000 people who visit the show.

"We have artists who only do galleries," Weems says. "But for one weekend a year, they come and meet their public."

Painter David Vega Chavez of Albuquerque is doing his 15th Weems Artfest. "It's the most popular art show in the Southwest," he says. "It's close to the holidays. To me, it's home."

Weems says the Artfest's concept is to expose artists to a larger audience, since "more people go to fairs than galleries." Philanthropy is another goal. The nonprofit Artfest donates from $20,000 to $100,000 annually to charities, raised through admission fees and a three-day auction.

Weems brings in celebrity artists who have included actors Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Lauren Bacall and Bo Derek. Actor Alan Arkin will be on hand this weekend, signing his children's book "The Lemming Condition."

Albuquerque painter B.C. Nalin, who sells mostly out of state, says Artfest is "a way to meet 40,000 people without campaigning for office. It's my one chance to meet New Mexicans."

Setting up for the weekend on Wednesday evening, Weems moves happily among the dozens of artists building their booths with power tools, partitions and display cases.

"Twenty-four years, and I'm still nervous," she says. "The expectations get higher every year, and I know enough now to know all the things that can go wrong."

But she's dreading the close. "It's sad when it ends," she says. "It's like old home week or the end of a family reunion. The artists have come together for so many years."