There are a number of ways of calculating how many people attended a rally and march. One way is to look up Mrs Google and calculate the distance or length of the march along a street, then calculate how many rows there are and multiply that by the number of people in each row. A shortcut is to count the median number of people in each row and then multiply it by distance between each row (say 1 metre) and then multiply that by the length of the march.
The calculation for the Palestinian march in Brisbane on 24 August 2025 looks like this: March length = 1,800 metres. Row width = 25 people. Distance between rows = 1 metre. 1800 x 25 x 1= 45,000 people. This calculation was checked with drone footage that reveals how there was more than one stream of people marching and rallying. For example, there were people assembled along George and Elizabeth Streets several hundred metres away from Queen’s Park.
Another method is multiply the area covered by the rally by 2.5 people per square metre. Queens Gardens is 1.2 acres, which is 4856.228 square metres x 2.5 = 12,140 people. Then we must take into account that there were people standing in George Street from Charlotte Street up to Radcliffe Place. That is the distance of 250 meters x 12 metres wide. 250×12 =3,600 square metres x 2.5 = 7,500 people. Finally, there were the people standing in Elizabeth Street between William Street and down to Albet Street across the width of the square, which is 100 meters by 12 meters by 2.5 equals 3,000 people. Add another 3, 000 between George Strait and Albert Street. All up, that is 15,140 Plus 7,500 Plus 3, 000, which equals 25,640 people.
But this method does not allow for the people who could not get to the rally. Plus, it does not allow for the fact that people joined the march as it proceeded from Queens Gardens to Musgrave Park.
There were also people lined up along
Today, I discovered another way. If you have time lapse photography at one point of the march, calculate the length of time in seconds it takes for the entire march to pass across that point and then multiply that by the median number of people in each row. The assumption is that it takes one second for each row to take a step through the fixed point captured in the time lapse reel.
For example, it took the Palestinian march on the 24th of August 2025 in Brisbane 52 minutes to pass under the walkway at the Cultural Centre in Southbank. The median number of people in each row was 22. The width varied between 25 and 19 people. So here is the calculation.
125+19÷2 =22
22×52×60= 68,640 people marched to free Palestine 🇵🇸 however this method does not take into account breaks or gaps between rows of people caused by stoppages.
Queensland Police Service claimed there were only 10,000 people in the march.
How do you spell liar? QPS.
#freepalestine🇵🇸 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNwjsd25OIq/?igsh=czZ5YjhsZTBxc3p6