From the heights of Creggan to the low-lying Bogside, the procession of people and banners stretched for over a mile yesterday for the major event of the 30th Bloody Sunday anniversary commemoration.
Welcoming the crowd, which included groups from the Republic, Britain, the US, and a large contingent from Belfast, Mr Eamonn McCann described it as "the greatest hosting of people ever seen in the city of Derry".
Other observers also rated the march and rally as the biggest the city has seen. Perhaps 30,000 people took part, which would make it larger than the Civil Rights march of January 30th, 1972, when the British army shot dead 13 people and wounded at least 15 others.
In 12-deep ranks, the tail of the march had not yet passed the Bogside Inn to proceed up Westland Street, when the front ranks had already traversed William Street and were approaching Free Derry Corner.
Mr McCann, of the Bloody Sunday Weekend Committee, which organises the annual commemoration, linked the massive resurgence of interest in the Bloody Sunday campaign to a wider global crusade against injustice, oppression and state terrorism. "We are part of something huge that is happening all over the world," he commented.
Mr Alex Attwood, chairman of the SDLP, also asserted that one of the "liberating legacies" of the Bloody Sunday campaign was that other cities and communities which had experienced tragic events had been encouraged to demand a full acknowledgment of the truth, and an accounting for what had happened. He praised the resilience of the Bloody Sunday relatives and said their dignity as families had been tested and proven during various attempts to derail the Saville Inquiry.
There had been attempts by the British army, allied with others, "to stymie and sidetrack the inquiry". This army was attempt- ing to avoid the people of Derry by refusing to come to the city to give evidence, and they might soon attempt to avoid the eyes of the families by "lurking behind screens".
Mr Gerry Kelly, Sinn Féin MLA, described Bloody Sunday as a watershed in the lives of a whole generation of Irish people. It was a line in the sand, for him and others, and he had joined the IRA "within days" of it. More significantly, however, it had led to republicans and nationalists everywhere standing up with more determination against discrimination and against sectarianism.
Ms Geraldine Doherty, niece of Bloody Sunday victim, Mr Gerald Donaghey, said the tragedy was not history to the families - it was real, every day of their lives - "we live with what we have lost".
Relatives of the victims carried white crosses and photographs of the dead on the three-mile parade.