Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend upon Glasgow for a pro-independence march this weekend.

Activists are expected to gather at Kelvingrove Park on Saturday morning before making their way to Glasgow Green at 1.30pm.

Organised by Scottish independence pressure group All Under One Banner, marchers have been encouraged to take their flags, banners, pipes and drums.

VIP Dholies will open the march before it is led by a single flag carrier and Saor Alba Pipes & Drums.

Political speakers, bands and other acts will also perform at the rally.

All Under One Banner, which was founded in 2014, is hoping to raise enough money to fund a massive billboard campaign.

Ahead of the march, the group has warned participants to either "ignore the counter-demonstrators or smile and wave".

Posting on social media, a spokesperson stated: "No standing beside them or mixing in with them - our movement doesn't need any negative publicity.

"The unionists have now started to implant infiltrators hoping for a 'Kodak moment' to portray us in a bad light.

"We will not allow that to happen to be broadcast across the world by the Unionist press spreading fake news.

"Please note we are aware counter-protesters now have body cameras".

All Under One Banner, which brands itself as the biggest grassroots movement in Scotland, said it had not let the country down.

The spokesperson added: "We ask you to keep your faith and trust in us.

"We do and will continue to do everything in our power to make sure the independence movement keeps gaining momentum and getting stronger."

The group put out a call for more volunteer stewards less than 48 hours before the event.

Glasgow City Council rules say there should be one steward for every ten marchers, meaning All Under One Banner could require 10,000 stewards for Saturday's rally "to ensure the safety of those taking part".

A social media plea from the group on Thursday asked volunteers to come forward to boost its "hundreds strong" stewarding team.

Marchers are set to ignore a council ruling, made after police and fire chiefs raised safety concerns over the size and scale of the event, which stated it should begin at 11am.

Organisers have continued to advertise a 1.30pm start time, claiming emergency services have had "adequate time" to prepare.

All Under One Banner dubbed the council's stewarding rules "ludicrous" in a post on Facebook.

The stated: "Glasgow City Council (GCC) has the highest steward to participant ratio for public processions anywhere when compared to other local authorities across Scotland.

"We are putting calls out for attendees to come wearing hi-viz clothing to bolster our dedicated steward teams appearance of numbers - even though we will have ample number of stewards on the day to ensure a safe and peaceful family-friendly demonstration for one and all.

"Our hundreds strong steward team, which has built-up five years successful experience to date managing the independence marches, will be at full force on Saturday to ensure a smooth passage of the procession.

"However we need as many additional volunteer stewards to join the big team on the day and the steward team will be actively recruiting as many volunteers as we can for this important role so that we can get as close to the numbers of stewards needed to satisfy the GCC ratio."

Due to the march from Kelvingrove Park to Glasgow Green, Scotland TranServ has advised that a number of M8 junctions and lanes will be closed in order to protect public safety.

The march will cross the M8 at Charing Cross, and therefore it will be necessary to implement closure of the westbound carriageway from the junction 15 onslip at Townhead, with a lane closure in place through to the junction 18 offslip at Charing Cross.

Paul Lynch, Scotland TranServ's network manager said: "The safety of motorists and the wider public is of paramount importance to Scotland TranServ.

"It is with this in mind that we have been asked by authorities to implement a series of junction and lane closures to protect the public safety of marchers taking part in Saturday's large scale event.

"In order to reduce disruption to weekend workers, we will implement these closures from 9.30am on Saturday morning, until such time as advised it is safe to do so.

"The safety of our workers will also be fully considered in the removal of restrictions.

"Alongside Traffic Scotland, we will keep drivers informed through Twitter when these closures are able to be lifted and the M8 returns to normal flows."

Traffic management will be implemented from 9.30am on Saturday, May 4.

First Bus has also advised passengers that services within the city centre will be impacted.

The bus company stated: "With 100,000 people expected, this will have a major impact on services within the city centre.

"We will endeavour to keep a service running, however there will be disruptions and diversions to services.

"The on-street team will be in place to monitor services. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, which regrettably, is due to circumstances outwith our control."