News Porto.
The Municipality of Porto will help distressed local traders during Xmas business
Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto, announced on 30th November that the Municipality is preparing measures to support local traders in the Christmas business. Owing to the new coronavirus pandemic, local retailers are threatened by the sharp drop in sales. Also, this year the Municipality decided that no giant Xmas tree swill stand out in Avenida dos Aliados, and instead the amount will be destined to support the package of measures to help local retailers.
The best Xmas stories for kids are online with the “Adventário” project by Ágora
Although in a different year, celebrating Xmas is more important than ever, and even if there will be no Xmas tree standing in the Avenida dos Aliados this year, there will be plenty of light in the streets to celebrate the jolly season, as this is “the season to be merry!”. In addition, Porto City Hall, via Ágora created the “Adventário”, a project targeted at the younger audiences and whose goal is to celebrate Xmas, this time in the digital platforms.
Porto Municipal Theatre lays out a new digital project in different artistic realms
This season, Porto Municipal Theatre (TMP) features both in-person and online performances. The TMP invited eight artists to provide a special artistic creation and offer audiences new insights on the cultural realm. The project is called PAR(S) – Artes Performativas e Imagem Online [Online Performance Arts and Image”, free translation] and it kicks on 1st December, with Cláudia Varejão and Joana Castro, director and choreographer and dancer, respectively.
Meet Santa Claus at the Hard Club, on 29th November, at 11am
The Cultura em Expansão will take Santa Claus to the Hard Club, on 29th November, at 11am. The performance “Olá, eu sou o Pai Natal” [“Hi, I’m Santa Claus”, free translation] will be delivered by Tiago Barbosa, who gives the traditional tale a twist. Barbosa will play around the modern character of Santa Claus, based on the historical Saint Nicholas, raising awareness on global issues such as gifts and the consumer society.
STCP adjusts the offer of services on weekends due to the slump in demand
STCP bus fleet in Porto will adjust the offer of services on weekends and holidays, starting at 1pm, following the slump in demand of circa 70%. This weekend, the STCP bus fleet implements timetable changes, by reducing 10% the offer of bus services, starting after 1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
Intercultural mediation services at the Townsman Office
The Townsman Office (Gabinete do Munícipe) offers the Intercultural and Municipal Mediation service, which is available upon prior appointment. The Municipality of Porto had already launched the project that involves the implementation of intercultural assistance within the city, with four intercultural mediators, in 2019; thus, three mediators work with the Roma community, and one mediator offers assistance to migrant communities.
Porto Food Bank promotes the best way to celebrate Xmas: by sharing
This year, the usual collection of food is not possible, owing to the sanitary context; as such, the campaign “Partilhar o Natal” [“Sharing Xmas”, free translation] is aimed at making up for that and advocates for companies and people to donate food and other items.
Porto City Hall raises botany awareness by protecting two more trees
Upon proposal of Porto City Hall and with the support of the U. Porto, two trees – a copper beech and a Camphor tree – that stand at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FBAUP) site, are now tree species considered to be of public interest by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
Porto Planetarium and the Ó! Galeria offer Carl Sagan’s way of thinking
The Ó! Galeria joins Porto Planetarium to present a collective exhibition themed ‘Cosmos: Uma Nova Odisseia Ilustrada’ [“Cosmos: A New Illustrated Odyssey”, free translation], based in the iconic TV series by Carl Sagan. The exhibit is already available online at Porto Planetarium website.
Three plays take to the stage at TeCA, by A Turma
The company A Turma takes to the stage at the Theatre Carlos Alberto (TeCA), between 26th and 29th November. The theatre company presents three shows, with the premiere of Airbnb & Nuvens “Uma rádio novela” on Thursday, 26th November, directed by Manuel Tur with a text by Luísa Costa Gomes. The cycle includes the play “Alma”, directed by Tiago Correia, and concludes with “Wake Up”, a monologue based on a text by Eric Bogosian, and co-created by António Afonso Parra and Luís Araújo.