“My voice for the EU”, Founded by 30 non-governmental organizations, held a demonstration in Tbilisi called “Georgia chooses the EU” on October 20. The demonstrators gathered at 17:00 at five different locations throughout the city, joining together on Liberty Square at 19:00.
Traditionally, the issue of how many people attended the rally became a topic of speculation. An account on X called “Visioner” claimed that more than 100 000 people did, a number picked up by several Georgian media outlets, while the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated – “take 100 000 and divide it by 6 or 7 and you will get the real number [of the demonstration attendees].”
FactCheck Georgia analysed the photos and videos taken during the October 20 demonstration and determined the approximate number of gathered people using the online crowd-measuring website mapchecking.com.
It is important to note that crowd density differed on different areas of the demonstration, making it difficult to determine the exact number of the attendees. Nevertheless, the drone footage and the crowd-measuring tool allows us to count the approximate number.
It should also be taken into account that TV Formula, TV Pirveli, Mtavari Channel [media critical of the government] aired the identical drone footage, while Imedi TV [pro-governmental] used its own drone. The Public Broadcaster, Adjara Public Broadcaster, Rustavi 2, and POSTV did not air live drone footage.
The clearest footage available of the rally was shot and broadcasted between 19:50-20:10. At that point, the demonstrators had occupied Liberty Square and a part of Rustaveli Avenue, approximately until the entrance of the “Liberty Square” metro station.
Footage broadcasted live by Formula and Mtavari Channel at 19:58
Footage aired by Imedi TV at 20:23, although the exact time of when the footage was shot is unknown
At 19:50 demonstrators lit up their phone flashlights, a photo was shot by a drone at the same time, which clearly shows the area occupied by the attendees.
Photo by Gela Riabukha, taken between 19:50-19:52
Along with determining the territory taken up by the demonstrators, it is also important to determine the approximate crowd-density. For this, FactCheck Georgia analysed close-up shots of the crowd taken by drones. Similar footage was disseminated by media agency Mtis Ambebi and Euronews Georgia.
Footage disseminated by Mtis Ambebi, taken between 20:10-20:30
Footage disseminated by Euronews Georgia, taken at 19:55 (FactCheck Georgia confirmed the exact time with Euronews Georgia)
Live footage aired by Formula at 20:02
As seen in the footage, crowd density is higher in front of the stage, in the central part of Liberty Square, as well as on the left side of the stage (in front of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel). It is estimated that the average density in these areas was 4.5-5 people per 1 square meter. Based on the estimation, the number of participants of the rally in the mentioned area varied between 20250-22500.
Based on the drone footage, crowd density from the central part of Liberty Square to the beginning section of Rustaveli Avenue was relatively low compared to the area immediately surrounding the stage, estimated to be 3-3.5 people per 1 square meter. Based on the estimation, the number of participants of the rally in the mentioned area varied between 19400-22600.
As for the outskirts of the area occupied by the demonstrators, such as the area to the right side of the stage and the area near the entrance to the “Liberty Square” metro station, it is estimated that the density of people was 1.5-2 people per square meter. According to similar calculations, the number of participants of the rally in the mentioned area varied between 8100-10900.
In conclusion, based on the drone footage taken by various media outlets, we can assume that between 19:55 and 20:30 hours, 47,750 to 56,000 people attended the “Georgia chooses the EU” rally.
It should be noted that during the course of the rally, people leave and join it. Moreover, some of the participants of the rally may not have been in the areas captured by the drones. Therefore, we can assume that more people attended the rally than what appeared in the footage during the peak of the rally.
