A protest march is an accessible way to make your voice heard and bring attention to your cause. This article is specifically about the tactic of marching. Also make sure to check out our more general page on organizing a protest action.

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Potential impact #

Reach #

Whether or not your protest march will be covered in local/national/international news media depends on the number of people participating and the novelty of the cause that you are advocating. If it is something for which there already have been a lot of protests, you will need to step up your game to make the march interesting enough to cover.

Since a march is a moving protest, a lot of bystanders may see your action, but it is harder to start one-on-one conversations with them.

If you take pictures, record videos and livestream during march, so can reach additional people via social media.

Engagement #

A protest march is a relatively accessible action format, so it is a good way to get people who have never protested before involved. Make sure you have clear follow up actions though, so that participants of the march will take up more active roles within your movement after the march.

People who see your action as bystanders or hear about in in news media might also get involved. Note this is a very small percentage of the total number of people reached. You can improve this by handing out leaflets during the march and making it easy for people to find your website and get involved.

Disruptiveness #

A protest march is usually not very disruptive. You are usually only taking up some space for a few hours. And because it is a moving protest, traffic will be able to continue their travels as you move away, though with a large number of participants this may take a while.

• You are temporarily taking up a certain physical space, depending on the number of people participating and duration of the march

• You are creating disturbance with noise

These are some ways to make it more disruptive: march on a frequent basis, march a longer distance, make more noise (for example, by asking people to bring pots and pans), or engage in cultural disruption (for example, march naked).

Because a protest march is not very disruptive generally speaking, it is unlikely that decision makers will feel forced to respond to your demands based on the disruption alone (though they may feel forced through public pressure as the result of your reach in news media). Being a relatively undisruptive tactic, this also means that the authorities are less likely to try to stop you by means of police force.

Creativity #

The tactic of marching to draw attention to a certain cause is very commonly used. Unless you add something special, a protest march is not very creative. This means that news media will be less interested, because it misses the aspect of novelty.

These are some ways to use creativity to make a march more interesting: wear special clothing, bring art objects (for example a brightly painted boat or paper mâché skeletons) or have a group of people play theatre.

Resources needed #

Every action tactic requires certain resources. If you do not have access to these resources, you will need to do some capacity building.

• Organisers: You will need a few people to prepare the logistics (route, location, time), someone to communicate with the authorities, a group of people to promote the action, and wellbeing officers during the action.

• People willing to act: Since the impact of a protest march largely depends on the turnout, it is important to have a large group of people willing to participate in your action. Ideally, you already have a contact list of supporters. However, you can also grow your network by organising smaller actions and by building coalitions before the march.

• Materials: To communicate your message it is smart to ask participants to create protest banners and flags beforehand. You can also print them, but generally speaking, this will make your march look less authentic (as it becomes harder for people to differentiate you with astro turfing). If you have a large number of people, it is nice to have a way a sound installation and podium (for example, to give a speech or to play music, such as "Protest" by SpectraColor). Since you will be moving, you could consider to use a moving podium (for example, a cargo bike or car). Medics will need to bring a first aid kit.

• Financial resources: You do not need a lot of financial resources to organize a protest march. Just show up and walk from A to B. However, things like adding a podium can add some costs. Read our guide on fundraising to find out how to get money.

How to organise #

1. Choose a time and location #

The first step is to choose a time and location for your protest march. Make sure that the time and location are both convenient for as many people as possible. You also want to make sure that the location is easily accessible for the media.

2. Get a permit #

If you want to march on a public street, might need to get a permit from the local government. Check out the legal details for your country.

3. Plan the route #

The next step is to plan the route for your march. Make sure that the route is safe and easy to follow, and that it ends at a rally or protest site.

4. Engage the participants #

Most protest marches just let people walk from A to B, without much interaction between participants. Everyone shows up, you might get a small mention in the news papers, and nothing more happens. This is not a very effective way of protesting!

You need to make sure that everyone who joins your march, will become active volunteers to organise the next, even bigger, action. You can do this by ensuring strong social bonds are formed between the participants during the march.

For example, halfway during the march, have everyone sit down in small groups of 8 people. For every small group, you should have a facilitator to ask some questions and to motivate the group to take next steps. You can have the facilitators guide the group:

• 5 min: Question round - Why did you join today?

• 5 min: Explain why this march is not enough, and why we all need to help to organise the next, even bigger, march. Give 3 ways to help (for example: donate, join the next meeting to make plans, go knocking doors)

• 5 min: Raise hands - Who will contribute in what way? Write down names and exchange phone numbers.

• 5 min: Repeat the next steps (e.g. the upcoming meeting date, having drinks after this march to get to know each other better)

After the march, go to a cafe to have drinks together. The purpose of this is to form strong social bonds. The stronger the social bonds, the more likely people are to become and stay actively involved in your movement.

Remember: the fight against fascists is not won by doing a single protest march. We need to build strong resilient movements that are willing to continue fighting in the long run!

👉 Want to get a more detailed step-by-step plan? Read our guide on how to organize a protest.

Examples #

In the Global Nonviolent Action Database, you can find over 600 examples of protest marches around the globe.

How to contribute #

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