"Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" held on National Mall

Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hosted their “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” today on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The crowd began to arrive early in the morning and had filled the space reserved for the event well before the noon start time. After police stopped allowing people to enter areas of the Mall, the crowd expanded to the surrounding area. Large crowds were still making their way to the event site even after the rally had begun. Some participants brought sane and respectful signs (as suggested by Jon Stewart) with some creating signs saying things he had mentioned on his show. Other participants dressed as their fears (as suggested by Stephen Colbert) including bears and foreigners, with some bringing things such as large fake spiders to represent their fear. Shortly after 10am the jumbo screens positioned around the National Mall rally site began to play re-broadcasts of segments of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, showing the announcement of, and later discussion of, the rally. The event itself began at noon with a performance by The Roots, who were joined by John Legend and continued on for the next three hours. In addition to musical performance from artists including Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, and Tony Bennett (who sang America the Beautiful) there were comedic skits by the hosts and a closing address of sorts by Jon Stewart where he discussed some of his thoughts on the purpose of the event.