News Porto.

Christmas is in town! As of December 1, Porto will officially open the holiday season with the Christmas lighting ceremony, starting at 5.30 pm in Aliados. As it has become tradition over the past few years, tens of thousands are expected to head to Avenida dos Aliados, in the town centre to partake the spirit of a festive town centre.

Porto Municipal Gallery opens "10000 anos depois entre Vénus e Marte" exhibit [10000 years later between Venus and Mars], on 9 December, starting at 4 pm at Porto Municipal Gallery.

"Porto, talent incubator" is the theme of a news published by the weekly newspaper Expresso, last weekend. The two-page article provides facts to inform that investment undertakings in Porto and in the North region of Portugal created an estimated 8000 jobs over 3 years.

Porto City Hall and the Xunta de Galicia (Regional Executive of Galicia) will carry out a cross-border cooperation project to improve energy efficiency in Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) and to make residual water treatment more sustainable as well. The Aqualitrans' mission is to improve water quality, to reduce the energy consumption and to decrease the running costs of the WWTP.

Porto proudly boasts "Blue Municipality 2017" status on the basis of criteria on environmental education practices for the second year running.

The ALPAD - Luso-Persian Association for Fellowship and Development promotes a lecture on the work of Rumi, a famous 13th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic, 25 November, starting at 9.30 pm. This second evening of poetry is sponsored, once again, by Porto city Hall, starting at 9.30 pm at the Almeida Garrett Municipal Library auditorium.

The "Estádio do Dragão" received the 2017 EDP Electrical Power and Environment Prize for service buildings. The award was delivered by Vice-President of Porto City Hall, Filipe Araújo, in a ceremony held at the Convento do Beato, in Lisbon.

The Municipal Theatre of Porto debuts "Teoria 5S", jointly produced with "Visões Úteis", to prompt questions on memoirs' preservation through objects that apparently and also objectively , have no practical use, 24 November, starting at 9.30 pm.

Porto comes alive with a five-week programme of concerts, dance and circus acts, street theatre, workshops, exhibitions, markets, ice-skating rinks, lots of entertainment, live music and dancing in the streets. Porto City Hall has selected the best entertainment agenda for this holiday season, beginning 1 December and running till 7 January.

Chess classes are available in Porto Public Library and applications are now open. The study programme, jointly organised with the Escola do Silêncio [The school of Silence] begins 2 December and it will run on a weekly basis till July next year.