Thousands have gathered at the fountain in Sydney’s Hyde Park this afternoon to attend a party-slash-protest organised by Reclaim The Streets, against Sydney’s tough lockout laws.

We recently spoke to the event’s organisers, who say that the tough new laws are indicative of a bigger problem in Sydney, as corporate entities fight over their interests while those of the average person take a back seat.

One of the first people to arrive was legendary sandwich board activist Danny Lim, who, ICYMI, recently copped a $500 fine for dropping a public C-Bomb on Tony Abbott.

The vibe throughout the early afternoon was generally fairly ~chill~ (sub-category: ~peace and love~), as thousands of Sydneysiders gathered, many rocking placards with the slogan ‘Unlock Sydney’.

There was a lot of love for Danny at the protest. PEDESTRIAN.TV spoke to him to get his thoughts on what the lockout means for Sydney – look out for that interview soon.

The police presence was moderate to heavy, with six mounted officers leading up the rear of the march, as well as at least 20 on foot and quite a few on bikes, as well as a motorcade of police and emergency vehicles.

“It’s more like a music festival than a protest,” said one of PEDESTRIAN.TV’s people on the ground. “A lot of people have brought their own sound systems, so there are heaps of people dancing.”

“There’s a lot of fluoro, and a lot of old-school ’90s raver vibes as well as a lot of younger Sydney kids. There are a lot of loose c***s here too, and a lot of people protesting in favour of refugees, with signs that say ‘We’ve Boundless Plains To Share’.”

A lot of these flyers were also handed out:

As the protest winds on, the end location remains a secret, though given the general ~doof doof~ vibe, it can be assumed there’ll be some kind of hectic party situation at the end of all this.

Once again, here’s our interview with the protest organisers:

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Photos: Jess Hallay