News Porto.

Portugal Fashion kicks off today, with an exclusively online format. “The Sofa Edition” offers what is next in Portuguese fashion, for the coming evenings. Today with the screening of the videos with the autumn/winter collections by Maria Carlos Baptista, Estelita Mendonça, Katty Xiomara, Inês Torcato, Maria Gambina, Miguel Vieira, Ernest W. Baker, David Catalán and Alexandra Moura. Porto City Hall renews support to the event.

BEAST, the festival from Porto that showcases films by Eastern Europe filmmakers and Portuguese directors, who reside outside the country, will be held online, in partnership with the Streaming Filmin platform. This year, BEAST is devoted to Romania and kicks off on 24th march, and runs until 4th April.

Student accommodation in Porto will be enhanced, with two university campus inaugurating in Asprela: the Miranda Oporto, which will start running in the beginning of the school year, and the Liv Porto – The Street, which will be concluded in 2022. The investment in the university campus is by Valeo Management Europe, of the American group Valeo.

Airliners are resuming operations owing to the easing of pandemic restrictions. Porto International Airport, Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport will see Ryanair flying again, starting on 28th March. This announcement follows the latest news by Turkish Airlines that it will resume operations to and from Porto by the end of March, as well.

Today, 17th March, the Saint Patron of Ireland is celebrated and all across the world several tributes are paid to honour Saint Patrick. Porto is no different and the Clérigos Tower will lit in green to pay the homage to the foremost patron saint of Ireland. The green, one of the colours of the Irish flag, symbolises the Irish nationalism; the other colour of the Irish flag are the orange, symbolizing the Orangemen of the North and the white, which symbolizes peace.

Turkish Airlines resumes the Istanbul-Porto route on 29th March, with four weekly flights. The route had been suspended in the beginning of the pandemic.

The centennial bookshop that combines books and a magic scenario, reopened to the public, following the easing of the confinement restrictions, as announced by the Government. As of 15th March, doors are open and, for now, entrance is free. Take time to appreciate the new colours that deck the amazing staircase: the lavish red has been temporarily replaced by yellow and grey. Lello is open between 10.30 am and 1 pm, and between 2 pm and 5.30 pm.

The FITEI - International Iberian Theatre Festival, is back from 1st to 16th May, as announced by the organisation to Lusa. The main novelty is that the festival will take to both the digital and the in-person format. Theatres, cinemas and concert hall are to reopen on 19th April.

As of 15th March, Serralves Park is open to the public, between 10 am and 7 pm. The Park had closed in January, owing to the latest general confinement issued by the Government. These stressful times that ask us to balance work - either remote or in-person - and family, while trying to stay connected to relatives and friends, and whilst respecting physical distancing and confinement measures are not a walk in the park. Or might they be? Yes, Serralves Park opened to the public, on 15th March.

Porto City Hall launched a programme to raise awareness on the issue of mental health among its collaborators, which is especially relevant in the ongoing pandemic context. Last week, it was time for the Municipal Police to undergo the workshop, at Almeida Garrett Municipal Library. “The current framework [of Covid-19] accentuated and exposed even further the importance of taking care of people’s physical and psychological health, with common and concerted responses”.