The year 2026 is of particular significance for the province: July 1st marks the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.
During the First World War, soldiers from Newfoundland, serving in the Newfoundland Regiment, suffered massive losses on one of the bloodiest days of the entire war, which marked the start of the Battle of the Somme in France in 1916.

July 1st is a day to pay tribute to those who have given so much to help preserve the peace and freedom we enjoy today. To mark the occasion, the FFTNL Cultural Network, in partnership with the Association communautaire francophone de Saint-Jean (ACFSJ), the Association régionale de la côte Ouest (ARCO), the Association francophone du Labrador (AFL) and the Conseil scolaire francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (CSFP), organised workshops dedicated to creating commemorative postcards. These events took place in each of the province's three Francophone communities: a community event in St John's, and school-based activities at the Boréale School in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the Notre-Dame-du-Cap School in Cap Saint-Georges. These workshops enabled participants and pupils to give free rein to their creativity, whilst also expressing their gratitude to the soldiers and to the Newfoundland community.

In St. John's, The Rooms museum opened its doors for a guided tour of the exhibition dedicated to this historic battle. This was followed by two in-person workshops led by Jessica Tucker on writing and Anastasia Tiller on watercolour illustration. These creative, guided sessions enabled each participant to write and paint their own postcard, using symbols associated with the battle such as the caribou and the poppy.

Students at French-speaking schools also had the opportunity to learn more about this battle through a guided tour of the online exhibition, and to try their hand at drawing and watercolour painting with Mike Lainey at Notre-Dame-du-Cap School and Anastasia Tiller at Boréale School.

These workshops enabled the French-speaking community to learn more about the history of the province and, in particular, the families of the Port-au-Port Peninsula.
All the artwork is available online so that these memories are not forgotten.

• https://www.veterans.gc.ca/fr/commemoration/histoire-militaire/premiere-guerre-mondiale/bataille-de-beaumont-hamel 
• https://therooms.ca/exhibits/beaumont-hamel-and-trail-caribou 

Partners :

Centre scolaire et communautaire
des Grands-Vents - Suite 233
65, Ridge road
St. John's (NL)
A1B 4P5
709 800-6200
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