Agree a meeting point — A named building, not "by the stage". Phones stop working in a crowd this size, and yours will be the one that dies
Write a number on your arm — In biro. It survives a flat battery, a dropped phone and a wet coat, which is more than the phone manages
Tell somebody who isn't coming — Where you're going and roughly when you'll be back. One message, and it costs you nothing at all
Decide your leaving point before you arrive.
Everything else on this page is logistics. That one sentence is the whole of the safety advice, and it sits on the left rather than three screens down because that is where it is actually useful. You can join anywhere along the route and you can leave from anywhere too.
The date
- Sat, Aug 29 · 5:29 AMMarch and rally📍 Assemble at the park's north gate
Assembly from 11:00, sets off at 12:00, rally in the square from about 14:00, and the square is cleared by 16:00.
Sets off at 12:00 — Slowly. The back of a march this size doesn't move for twenty minutes and that is completely normal
Join anywhere along it — You do not have to start at the beginning. Put your three easiest slip-in points here
Leave anywhere too — Step to the side and out. Nobody stops you, nobody asks, and nobody is counting
Rally from about 14:00 — Static, in the square. Seating at the front left and a quiet area behind the stage
Finishes by 16:00 — The square clears by then. The stations are busiest between four and five, so leaving at half three is easier
What to bring, and what to leave at home
More water than you think
A litre each. There is rarely anywhere to buy any once the crowd builds, and the taps in the square are usually off.
Your phone will die
Crowds hammer batteries hunting for a signal. Bring a charger, and switch to low power before you leave the house rather than after.
Medication in its box
In the labelled packaging, with enough for twice as long as you plan to be out, and tell whoever you're with where it is.
Layers and flat shoes
You will stand still for far longer than you walk. Standing still is what gets cold, and it is what ruins the shoes.
Identification
Rules about carrying ID differ enormously from country to country. Put the position where you are here — this line is a placeholder, not advice.
Nothing you'd hate to lose
Crowds, rain and a long day. Leave the good watch, the good coat and anything with sentimental value at home.
The welfare point — Water, a seat, a quiet corner and a first-aider. Say where yours is on your own page, and say it twice
Legal observers — They record what happens, which is genuinely useful afterwards — and that is all it is. An observer cannot intervene and cannot get anybody released
What none of them can do — Guarantee that you are safe. A marked jacket is a person who volunteered, not a shield, and pretending otherwise is how people get hurt
First aid — There is a point on the route and one at the rally. For anything serious ring the emergency number — do not walk somebody to a first-aid tent
If you lose your group — Go to the meeting point you agreed and wait there. Walking about looking is how two people miss each other for two hours
Step-free — Put the route's step-free sections and the accessible viewing area here, specifically. "Mostly accessible" tells nobody anything they can plan around
The quiet area — Behind the stage and away from the speakers. Say where yours is, because the people who need it will not ask
Coming later — The square fills gradually and the front is not the only place worth standing. Arriving at two is a completely normal way to be there
Not coming at all — Write to your representative that day and say you would have been there. It lands differently on the day than it does in an ordinary week
Helping from home — Somebody has to answer messages, track where people are, and be the number written on everybody's arm. That job is real, and it is always short of people
Tell us you're coming
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.