News Porto.

Camellias are blooming again in Porto and the Mosteiro de São Bento da Vitória hosts the 23rd edition of the exhibit that celebrates this winter flower. The event kicks off on 3 March, at 2.30 pm and is entrance free. The show enlivens the first days of March, featuring a programme that suits all tastes.

The 38th edition of Fantasporto opens today with the national preview of "El Secreto de Marrowbone" (Spain, 2017) by Sergio Sanchez, starting at 9.15 pm at Rivoli's Grand Auditorium. In 1969, following the passing of their mother, four siblings hide in Marrowbone, an abandoned manor in the middle of rural America, hoping for a fresh start. However, the walls hide a dreadful secret.

The short film by João Salaviza and Ricardo Jr, sponsored by Porto City Hall under the "Cultura em Expansão" cultural programme is not a film on the Aleixo neighbourhood, but it is the starting point for debating a current topic. And the topic is housing in the 21st century.

Porto is the Best Start-up Friendly City of Europe 2018. The award was granted on 19 February, during the World Excellence Awards in Istanbul, known as an investment hub in the Middle East. The World Business Angels Investment Forum announced Porto as the recipient of the award for the Best Startup-Friendly City of Europe and Mayor Rui Moreira received the prize.

The University of Porto will have a huge number of international students as till the end of the school year 2017/2018, U.Porto welcomes 2471 students from 76 nationalities. These figures show the success of the internationalization strategy by the University of Porto over the past decade.

The Wine Essence event has become a tradition in Portugal and it will run from 22 to 25 February at the Stock Exchange Palace in the city of Porto. This wine event gathers about 3000 wines from 400 producers from the entire country and the inescapable "Top 10 Portuguese Wines" tasting that will be assessed by experts from different nationalities.

The short film "Russa" depicting the daily lives of people from the Aleixo neighbourhood is in Berlin for the International Film Festival. The storyline of the Portuguese short "Russa" is the real lives of Aleixo inhabitants and the plot involves every bit of their existence, uncensored.

"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is presented at Teatro Nacional São João (TNJS) on 21 February and performances will run till 11 March. After sold-out performances in 2017, "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (the play's full title) features actor João Reis as Macbeth, a brave Scottish general who, upon a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland, is driven by ambition and spurred to action by his wife.

The auditorium at Campo Alegre Municipal Theatre hosts a poetry session in the context of the cultural programme "Quintas de leitura". Golgona Anghel, a Romanian poet and writer based in Portugal, is considered one of the most challenging and critical talents of her generation, and will delight poetry lovers on 22 february at Campo Alegre.

The Museu Romântico [Romantic Museum] reopened to the public recently after having been closed for refurbishing works to the building and to the equipment within. Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira officially opened the permanent exhibition following nearly one year of restoration works the building has undergone. The new permanent exhibition is now open for visits at the Museu Romântico, set up at Quinta da Macieirinha, in an environment that revives the natural setting of a cottage in Porto from...