You are invited! Meet star visiting chefs and winemakers at the VIP Reception and Charity Auction of the St. Michaels Food & Wine Festival, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, April 24, in the Steamboat Pavilion of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, in St. Michaels.

The theme of the evening will be “A Taste of Five Cities from Around the World,” featuring the foods of Buenos Aires, Florence, Paris, Tokyo, and Miami, all prepared by Gourmet by the Bay. Washington, D.C. importer Bobby Kacher will stock the “Paris station” with select French wines. Other city stations will offer specialties of their regions.

A “Food, Wine, & Travel Live Auction” will be the highlight the event to raise funds for six regional charities. Last year, the live auction and silent auctions during the festival raised a record $38,000 for charities.

“Where else can you personally meet some of the country’s top chefs and winemakers?” said Jon Mason, festival executive director. “Guests will enjoy fabulous food, wines and spirits, all for charity. You might even have the winning bid on a Caribbean villa vacation, a catered wine dinner, or rare bottles of wines.”

The festival’s charities are Community Food Bank, Chesapeake Culinary Center, FarmFresh Markets, Pickering Creek Audubon Center, Easton High School Nutrition & Culinary Program, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

Tickets can be purchased for the VIP reception for $75 per person, before April 17. For more information and purchase of tickets, including weekend tickets, see the festival website, www.stmichaelsfoodandwinefestival.com, or write: St. Michaels Food & Wine Office, PO Box 824, St. Michaels, MD 21663; or phone (443) 205-2185.