This post was last updated at 2:45 a.m. on June 7.

After a week of daily demonstrations, clashes with the president, and occupation from federal law enforcement agencies, the District saw its largest day of protests against police brutality yet on Saturday.

The day was marked by a new kind of energy—joyful, celebratory, even triumphant.

“It just feels amazing out here. The energy is amazing, everybody is having fun, there’s no drama, no violence, no anything like that,” said protester Aiyah-Don, a D.C. native who spoke with DCist amid a throng of people on the newly christened Black Lives Matter Plaza. “It just feels so good out here right now.”

This week of protests over the police killing of George Floyd has been full of striking images, many of them heavy or frightening: law enforcement agencies and military personnel descending on the city by the busload; police using chemical irritants to disperse peaceful protesters so the president could take a photo; hundreds of protesters corralled onto a street and arrested, dozens seeking shelter in residents’ homes.

Saturday’s protests—which stretched from downtown D.C. to the nearby suburbs—also created some more uplifting images.

Across D.C., law enforcement and protesters kept their distance, and marchers stopped for food and drinks at the many restaurants, churches, theaters, and volunteer tents that were offering supplies.

Throughout the day, a number of groups broke out in dance and song. Washington Post reporter Jessica Contrera captured a scene of “unstoppable joy” near the White House, where protesters were (what’s the word?) partying to “Big Poppa” by The Notorious B.I.G. Later in the afternoon, a truck carrying a live go-go band led a march down 16th Street to the White House, with protesters dancing, singing and chanting on all sides.

And at one point, a group of black cyclists rode down Constitution Avenue and started a call-and-response chant of “I love being black,” in what sounded like unfettered, unmistakable joy.

Groups of protesters were scattered across D.C., but the messages heard at the gatherings were the same, even blocks or miles apart.

The protests and marches weren’t centralized, and marchers could leave one crowd of people only to find themselves swept up by another moving in a different direction. The masses were able to orient and organize themselves in part because the city’s street grid was built to create clear vistas to the city’s monuments and government buildings.

“We were wondering what a decentralized protest looks like, and, well, this is what it looks like,” a protester named Lauren told DCist at around 3 in the afternoon. Lauren and her group had been wandering from place to place all day, and were then heading from the White House to the National Mall. “Wherever we see someone with a megaphone, we go.”

In the early afternoon, thousands of people marched from the Lincoln Memorial and from Arlington, many chanting “hands up, don’t shoot” and “no justice, no peace” as temperatures climbed into the low 90s. Many carried signs and others said the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor—who was killed by police in Louisville, Ky, in March—as they passed stations for water, snacks and hand sanitizer that had been set up every few blocks.

Lisa Wood Mitchell attended the demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial with her 10-year-old granddaughter, Dakota, and her friend and college roommate, Beth Ward.

“I’m one of those mothers who had to teach her son at an early age how to put your hands up,” Mitchell said. She said she brought her granddaughter because “I want her to know the world is better than what we see on the news.”

Around 2 p.m., a massive crowd gathered at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, taking a knee and chanting “this is what Democracy looks like” and “Black lives matter.” Meanwhile, a crowd gathered in Chinatown, chanting “Black lives matter.

And still another throng of protesters marched down Constitution Ave. to the Capitol before continuing on toward the White House. Protesters shouted “fuck Trump” as they passed the Trump Hotel, which was blocked off by metal barriers and Metropolitan Police Department guards, only some of whom wore face masks.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined the protests Saturday afternoon, wearing a green mask that said “Hope” outlined by the District’s border, and a green shirt declaring “We are D.C.” Many protesters cheered as she walked past, flanked by men in suits and masks.

“We should all be watching what’s happening in Washington, D.C., because we don’t want our federal government to do this to any other Americans,” Bowser said as she walked toward the White House.

The mayor gave a short speech, telling demonstrators she pushed the Army away from her city this week, according to Washington Post reporter Fenit Nirappil. Bowser added that she wanted her daughter, Miranda, to “grow up in a country where she is not scared to go to the grocery store, not scared to go to work … where she can be a senator in the 51st state, Washington D.C.”

Several D.C. councilmembers also attended the march, including Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, At-large Councilmember Robert White, At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen.

As parts of the protests took on the feel of a festival or a celebration, some local activists expressed disappointment with the tenor of the day, as well as grief regarding the loss of life they felt was going unnoticed.

April Goggans, an organizer for the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, tweeted criticism of the day’s events, saying: “This is not a protest, it’s a celebration of #BlackLivesMatterPlaza. A party for @MayorBowser who actively harms Black people with her policies.”

When Bowser unveiled the street mural reading “Black Lives Matter” near the White House Friday morning, Black Lives Matter DMV quickly responded on Twitter, saying the move “distracted from real policy change.” Over the following days, Black Lives Matter Plaza has prompted similar outcry from activists, who cite Bowser’s alleged failures to hold the Metropolitan Police Department accountable for brutality against black Washingtonians. Some implied the mural was a stunt in Bowser’s ongoing feud with President Donald Trump.

Local activists painted two murals on the pavement Saturday that read “Defund the Police.” One was on Black Lives Matter Plaza, and the other was in front of the Wilson Building where the D.C. Council holds its meetings—a clear challenge to the mayor and the D.C. Council to back up the show of support with policy action.

By 8:00 p.m, the various marches that started around the city converged at the plaza. The crowd of several thousand people was tightly packed, and while most people wore masks, it was impossible to maintain any semblance of social distance. D.C. is still in the throes of a pandemic—on Saturday, the District, Maryland, and Virginia reported 1,645 total new cases of COVID-19.

Outside of St. John’s Church, Reggie Guy continued giving out free food at Earl’s First Amendment Grill, a pop-up hot dog stand that started as a two-person operation three days ago. Now, Earl’s is a two-tent setup with over $1,000 in food and equipment, and chairs for protesters to rest and eat.

Guy said he started the pop-up earlier this week as a way to keep protesters motivated, and to keep them coming back out again and again.

“I came out here, they were hungry, I was hungry. And that was a reason for me to go home,” Guys said. “So I was like, if this is making me want to go home, I know I can do something to help right there—food and chairs.”

Brittany Bellany, 28, told DCist that the atmosphere outside the White House felt joyful and cathartic. “It’s really celebratory. There’s so many people out here helping each other, I don’t really see any negative protests, any officers looking aggressive, not yet,” Bellany said. “I’ve just seen a lot of love, a lot of support, a lot of volunteers passing out food and drinks and supplies.”

MPD confirmed to DCist that it hadn’t made any protester arrests as of 11 p.m. While there didn’t appear to be any protester clashes with law enforcement on Saturday, uniformed law enforcement and national guardsmen could still be seen all over the city, as could the occasional humvee. The chain-link fence blocking access to public areas served as a reminder of the crackdown on protesters earlier in the week.

But on Saturday, that fence — which has extended farther and farther over the course of this week — was decorated with calls for police reform and shrines to victims of police brutality. Phrases “ban stop and frisk” and “defund MPD” were strung throughout the chain-link barrier. The faces of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, and several other black people who have been killed by police were taped to a piece of cardboard and fastened to the fence, with the words “they matter” written above them.

As night settled on the crowd, an activist yelled into a bullhorn to give those gathered a reminder of how the scene had changed: “If you were here last weekend, they had tear gas … they fucked us up. But we took these streets back.” She then led the crowd in a chant of “Whose streets? Our streets!”

As the giant crowd of protesters continued to chant and sing at Black Lives Matter Plaza, another group marched to the Lincoln Memorial, where they held a silent protest in honor of George Floyd.

Dozens of people at the memorial lay on their stomachs for eight minutes and 46 seconds, independent journalist Abdallah Fayyad reported. That’s the amount of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd struggled to breathe.

A third group split off from the White House and began a march back toward the Capitol, as has happened on several nights this week.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to continue his feud with the mayor and the city of D.C.

“Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated,” he tweeted about Saturday’s massive crowds with at least 10 separate protests across the city. “National Guard, Secret Service, and D.C. Police have been doing a fantastic job. Thank you!”

Trump went on to tweet on Saturday that CNN and MSNBC were attempting to “inflame” the crowds, which at that point were continuing their calm, sometimes joyful, sometimes sorrowful demonstration on the plaza.

As the night wore on, a crowd of protesters was determined to stay and send a message they hope will last beyond the protests that have rocked the city over the last week.

“That could have been me. That could have been my father. That could have been my brother,” a protester named Daniel McDowell told DCist about Floyd’s death, standing in Black Lives Matter Plaza after much of the crowd had thinned. “And I’m going to stand out here all night long.”

This post has been updated throughout.