When Maui Calls, 800 people answer. That’s the number of attendees at this annual gala, which has raised more than $3.5 million to support the nonprofit Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Founded in 1994, Maui Arts & Cultural Center is the island’s premier gathering place, celebrating excellence in the arts through concerts, exhibits, films, plays, lectures, music workshops and educational programs.

According to Art Vento, the center’s president and chief executive officer, Maui Calls traces its beginnings to a generous gift of wines from Fine Wine Imports, courtesy of owner Mapuana Schneider, in 1996. “We decided to organize a fundraiser around that,” he said. “The name Maui Calls was inspired by ‘Hawaii Calls,’ a Honolulu radio show that aired from 1935 to 1975.”

Designed to showcase local talent and boost Hawaii’s then-­fledgling tourist industry, “Hawaii Calls” was broadcast by some 750 stations around the world during the peak of its popularity from the 1950s through the late 1960s.

Maui Calls exudes the same warm aloha. It is a labor of love for dozens of people, including center stalwarts Honey Bun Haynes and Judy Bisgard, who were co-chairs of the planning committee for the first three years and have remained actively involved ever since.

Guests are greeted with a lei at the entrance, top Maui entertainers perform and there’s always plenty of fine food and libations. Also notable is the themed decor, which varies each year.

To bring the plantation-days theme to life last year, exhibits showcased artifacts from the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum, including suitcases, soda bottles, dinner pails and enamel bowls. In 2013, the surfing theme was enhanced with vintage surfboards, beach woodies and famous Maui surfers as special guests.

“Every year, for the past decade or so, Envisions Entertainment & Productions, which does multi-million-­dollar corporate events, partners with MACC’s artists, the Maui Calls committee and local interior designers to create a wonderland for Maui Calls,” Vento said. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise for guests this year, so I can’t share details, but you can be sure they’re working their magic again for the theme ‘In Celebration of Hula.’”

Performances by Halau na Lei Kaumaka o Uka, under the direction of kumu hula Napua Greig, and Halau o ka Hanu Lehua, led by kumu hula Kamaka Kukona, will reveal the grace and power of the Hawaiian dance. Both hula schools were winners at this year’s Merrie Monarch Festival.

On exhibit at the entrance will be drums and ipu from the collection of Keali‘i Reichel, an acclaimed songwriter, recording artist, kumu hula and Hawaiian culture practitioner from Maui. Another display will feature monarchy-­era (late 1800s, from the reigns of King Kalakaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani) and contemporary hula attire from Hale Ho‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House, a museum in Wailuku operated by the Maui Historical Society.

Notable Maui restaurants such as Pacific’O, Humble Market Kitchin, Hali‘imaile General Store and Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar will serve gourmet food. And, as he has since 2009, Alan Jahns, wine division manager at Paradise Beverages, will bring together prominent wineries from California, Oregon and France to offer tastings; some vintages they will be pouring are not yet available in Hawaii.

About 120 items have been confirmed for the silent and live auctions, including guitars autographed by headliners who have performed at the center, including Carlos Santana, Steven Tyler, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

Among other items up for bid will be Napa Valley, Calif., vineyard tours and stays, a day of sailing and snorkeling off Lanai and Molokai on a 50-foot double-hull outrigger canoe and a private hike through the Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve on the slopes of Haleakala Volcano.

“Wear casual aloha or dressy aloha, slippahs or stilettos. Your choice; you’ll fit in well no matter what,” Vento said. “Just come and have a great time at Maui’s best summer party!”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.