Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong, as they sought to show their movement still had public support even after two months of increasingly violent clashes.

Protesters, clad in their signature black and holding umbrellas, marched down major streets in Kowloon, chanting: “Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our time!” Volunteers handed out herbal tea and juice, while some shops that had closed for the day left boxes of drinks out for protesters.

Three separate rallies took place on Saturday, marking the 11th weekend of protests in Hong Kong as residents continue to press the government to formally withdraw a controversial extradition bill as well as meet other demands.

In one of the demonstrations, thousands of teachers braved heavy rains to fill a public square in central Hong Kong where they rallied against police brutality toward young protesters.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The teachers’ march moving through central Hong Kong. Photograph: Vivek Prakash/EPA

“When I see how things are right now, I can’t see a future for the children,” said Li, 30, a kindergarten teacher who helped organise the rally. “Today the teachers came out to show students that we understand them and we will fight with them until the end,” she said of the event, called Protect the Next Generation. She said: “It’s not just the students. All Hong Kong people need protecting.”

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The weekend of demonstrations has served as a test for the momentum of the protests after tensions reached a new level this past week. Following a weekend of violent clashes with police, protesters swarmed Hong Kong’s airport. Demonstrators blocked passengers, forcing a shutdown, as well as clashing with police and detaining two men suspected of being spies in scenes pro-government figures and Chinese state media have seized on as evidence of the protesters’ violent tendencies.

Following the violent episodes, protesters have called for a weekend of peaceful marches and a return to the methods used when the demonstrations began in June.

On Saturday, the rallies were mostly peaceful as demonstrators appeared focused on Sunday’s demonstration in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. Marching in Kowloon, they yelled: “See you at Victoria Park!”

Many wore surgical masks but did not appear to be in full protective gear as they had been in past rallies in preparation for confrontations with the police. Riot police were deployed to meet dozens of protesters who had splintered off from the designated route of a march in Hung Hom in Kowloon and occupied roads, but skirmishes were limited.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Students are pledging to continue marching even after schools open in September. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

One group surrounded a police station in Mong Kok and threw eggs at the building until riot police charged at the group, dispersing them. Others vandalised the offices of a pro-Beijing political party. One group left pineapples, meant to symbolise grenades, at the door of a pro-government organisation, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, which played a key role in anti-colonial government riots in 1967, when homemade bombs were planted at street corners around the city.

Critics said officials seemed intent on clashing with protesters. The police have banned the original plan for Sunday’s event, a march, and have instead confined it to a rally within Victoria Park. The park can hold about 100,000 people but organisers expect many more. Rally-goers on nearby roads or other overflow areas can be charged with unlawful assembly, which can lead to a maximum of five years in prison.

“We know the government is not trying to help the situation or at least not showing any signs of trying,” said Elizabeth Yu, 26, a musician and performer.

Quick guide What are the Hong Kong protests about? Show Hide Why are people protesting? The protests were triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where the Communist party controls the courts, but have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement. Public anger – fuelled by the aggressive tactics used by the police against demonstrators – has collided with years of frustration over worsening inequality and the cost of living in one of the world's most expensive, densely populated cities. The protest movement was given fresh impetus on 21 July when gangs of men attacked protesters and commuters at a mass transit station – while authorities seemingly did little to intervene. Underlying the movement is a push for full democracy in the city, whose leader is chosen by a committee dominated by a pro-Beijing establishment rather than by direct elections.

Protesters have vowed to keep their movement going until their core demands are met, such as the resignation of the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested and a permanent withdrawal of the bill. Lam announced on 4 September that she was withdrawing the bill. Why were people so angry about the extradition bill? Beijing’s influence over Hong Kong has grown in recent years, as activists have been jailed and pro-democracy lawmakers disqualified from running or holding office. Independent booksellers have disappeared from the city, before reappearing in mainland China facing charges. Under the terms of the agreement by which the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, the semi-autonomous region was meant to maintain a “high degree of autonomy” through an independent judiciary, a free press and an open market economy, a framework known as “one country, two systems”. The extradition bill was seen as an attempt to undermine this and to give Beijing the ability to try pro-democracy activists under the judicial system of the mainland. How have the authorities responded? Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations but has left it to the city's semi-autonomous government to deal with the situation. Meanwhile police have violently clashed directly with protesters, repeatedly firing teargas and rubber bullets. Beijing has ramped up its accusations that foreign countries are “fanning the fire” of unrest in the city. China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi has ordered the US to “immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form”. Lily Kuo and Verna Yu in Hong Kong

Government supporters were also holding a rival “anti-violence” demonstration outside the government headquarters. Participants dressed in white, to show their contrast with the protesters, sang the national anthem and chanted: “Oppose violence! Save Hong Kong!”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters marching in the Hung Hom area of Hong Kong. Photograph: Roman Pilipey/EPA

As the protests enter their third month, there has been no sign of concessions from the government, and Beijing has issued increasingly severe warnings. Analysts said authorities were hoping the protests would diminish on their own after students return to school in September.

But on Friday secondary school students pledged to boycott classes one day a week when term begins, and university students are expected to launch similar campaigns. Nonetheless, observers suggested it is likely that the momentum of protests will decrease..

“Even if the movement gradually dies down from this point on it has long-lasting impacts. Many people gained a kind of political consciousness. This is not something you can erase instantaneously,” said Wong, an academic focusing on social movements in Hong Kong, who prefers not to give his full name. “Probably you won’t see the same frequency and intensity but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Because once people have been woken up, they can’t be put back to sleep,” he said.