An estimated 300,000 people gathered in Chicago Saturday for the city's second annual Women's March, organizers said.
That total exceeded both expectations on turnout as well as the attendance at last year's march, organizers said.
This year's event was dubbed the “March to the Polls,” as the Women’s March Chicago group gathered for a rally in Grant Park and walked through downtown streets “to energize women and allies to turn voices into votes.” [[470291113, C]]
“A year after the Women’s March on Chicago exceeded our wildest expectations, today’s March on the Polls demonstrates that the voices of women and their allies are stronger than ever," the Women's March Chicago board said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
"Today we marched. Tomorrow we vote," the statement added.
The march in Chicago was one of hundreds of events planned worldwide this weekend, organizers said. [[470282823, C]]
During the rally, a speaker told the crowd that between 200,000 and 300,000 people were at the event. By the end of the march, organizers said that estimate had grown to over 300,000.
Local
More than 250,000 people attended the 2017 Women's March in Chicago, held one day after President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Crowds began gathering Saturday at around 9 a.m., flooding city streets ahead of an 11 a.m. rally.
Speakers, which included several prominent Chicago politicians and activists, and performers, including the cast of Hamilton, took the stage as women held signs and chanted.
A march began just before 1 p.m.
Follow along with those on the ground.
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