SAN ANTONIO – From food booths and live entertainment to the thousands of people, the East Side was the place to be on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
KSAT's Concetta Callahan, Alec Shreck and Ryan Loyd was at the annual march and said a friendly spirit was felt throughout the crowd of an estimated 300,000 people, according to the city of San Antonio MLK Jr. Commission.
Community members agreed.
"It amazes me that in San Antonio, it's the largest march in the entire country. Now that's a great feeling. You have great entertainment, inspirational speakers; it's the community spirit we wanted to be a part of," Pepe Lopez of Tony G's Soul Food said.
Tony G's brought its soul food menu to the event to share with the community, including its specialty: oxtail tacos.
Willie Williams and the International Drill Team were also at the event selling food to benefit the organization's youth ministry program.
"We have seasoned dollar chicken, fried wings. We have waffles, to go with that we have honey and syrup, to go with that, and then we have the funnel cakes," Williams said.
The reason for the large gathering was not lost on community members.
"(I) can't think of anything wrong with being peaceful and trying to progress, and that's what (King) was all for. And in this day and age, you'd be surprised at how much work needs to be done," Allan Budd of Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers said.
Monday's turnout is the largest ever for the MLK march in San Antonio, which began shortly after King's death. This is the 29th year the event has been sponsored by the city.
Click here for a list of events through the week celebrating King's legacy.
WATCH footage of the march from the air and the ground.