As an estimated 10 to 15 million Colombians - perhaps a third of the population - made their way to the starting points for peace marches across the country, the government and FARC guerrillas finally reopened negotiations in rebel-held territory after an eight-month stalemate.
Millions of people gathered to march waving little white flags with the words "No Mas" ("No More"), in protest at the longest-running conflict in Latin America, which has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people in the last four decades. The march organisers claim that the march is the biggest ever in Colombia.
The peace movement here is still in its infancy. The first march of this kind was organised by Mr Francisco Santos, editor of the country's principal newspaper, El Tiempo, after guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN), attacked a church in Cali in April and kidnapped more than 100 people.
Since then, almost two million people have taken to the streets of all the major cities to protest at the continued violence from leftist guerrilla groups, rightist paramilitaries and drug-trafficking groups.
?????es Pastrana in January, more than a year ago, Meanwhile, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government negotiating team, led by a peace commissioner, Mr Victor Ricardo, sat down in the rural town of La Uribe to attempt to work out the structure of a peace agreement. The town is on the edge of a demilitarised zone the size of Switzerland, from where President Andres Pastrana withdrew all state forces in November last year to pave the way for a settlement.
Many critics of the peace process, principally from the US, say the Colombian government has made far too many concessions to the guerrillas, who are making a mockery of Mr Pastrana and his government by using the area to recruit children into their ranks and control the supply of arms and narcotics to and from neighbouring countries.
While Colombians are used to the failure of peace processes - five major negotiations in the last 20 years collapsed - there is hope that this weekend's talks will finally bring an end to the one of the most brutal armed conflicts in the hemisphere. The massive turnout in the peace marches will hopefully press home to both sides the urgency of finding an agreement as quickly as possible.