diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index c4ed61a935..126c4bc030 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ env:
   DOCKER_PASS: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASS }}
   CI_WAIT_FOR_OK_SECONDS: 60
   CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD: 90
+  CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS: 1
   CI_MAX_WAIT_FOR_POD_TIME_SECONDS: 60
   CI_MIN_SUCCESS_THRESHOLD: 1
   ACR: ${{ secrets.ACR }}
diff --git a/demo/cmd/bookbuyer/bookbuyer.go b/demo/cmd/bookbuyer/bookbuyer.go
index 823e752af1..a90b22f039 100755
--- a/demo/cmd/bookbuyer/bookbuyer.go
+++ b/demo/cmd/bookbuyer/bookbuyer.go
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"html"
 	"html/template"
 	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
@@ -20,12 +23,14 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	booksBought   = 0
-	booksBoughtV1 = 0
-	booksBoughtV2 = 0
-	log           = logger.NewPretty(participantName)
-	port          = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
-	path          = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
+	wg                sync.WaitGroup
+	booksBought       int64 = 0
+	booksBoughtV1     int64 = 0
+	booksBoughtV2     int64 = 0
+	log                     = logger.NewPretty(participantName)
+	port                    = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
+	path                    = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
+	numConnectionsStr       = common.GetEnv("CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS", "1")
 )
 
 type handler struct {
@@ -81,20 +86,37 @@ func getHandlers() []handler {
 }
 
 func reset(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	booksBought = 0
-	booksBoughtV1 = 0
-	booksBoughtV2 = 0
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&booksBought, 0)
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&booksBoughtV1, 0)
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&booksBoughtV2, 0)
 	renderTemplate(w)
 }
 
-func main() {
-
-	go debugServer()
+func getBooksWrapper(wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
+	defer wg.Done()
 
-	// This is the bookbuyer.
-	// When it tries to buy books from the bookstore - we expect it to see 200 responses.
-	// When it tries to make an egress request, we expect a 200 response with egress enabled and a 404 response with egress disabled.
 	meshExpectedResponseCode := http.StatusOK
 	egressExpectedResponseCode := common.GetExpectedResponseCodeFromEnvVar(common.EgressExpectedResponseCodeEnvVar, httpStatusOK)
+
 	common.GetBooks(participantName, meshExpectedResponseCode, egressExpectedResponseCode, &booksBought, &booksBoughtV1, &booksBoughtV2)
 }
+
+func main() {
+
+	go debugServer()
+
+	numConnections, err := strconv.Atoi(numConnectionsStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("Error: invalid value for number of bookstore connections: %s", numConnectionsStr)
+		numConnections = 1
+	}
+
+	// This is the bookbuyer.  When it tries to buy books from the bookstore - we expect it to see 200 responses.
+	for i := 0; i < numConnections; i++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		fmt.Printf("Backpressure: starting bookbuyer connection #%d", i)
+		go getBooksWrapper(&wg)
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+}
diff --git a/demo/cmd/bookstore/bookstore.go b/demo/cmd/bookstore/bookstore.go
index 5ab8d5a725..f074213de3 100644
--- a/demo/cmd/bookstore/bookstore.go
+++ b/demo/cmd/bookstore/bookstore.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
@@ -19,11 +20,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	booksSold = 0
-	log       = logger.NewPretty("bookstore")
-	identity  = flag.String("ident", "unidentified", "the identity of the container where this demo app is running (VM, K8s, etc)")
-	port      = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
-	path      = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
+	booksSold int64 = 0
+	log             = logger.NewPretty("bookstore")
+	identity        = flag.String("ident", "unidentified", "the identity of the container where this demo app is running (VM, K8s, etc)")
+	port            = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
+	path            = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
 )
 
 type handler struct {
@@ -76,12 +77,12 @@ func getIndex(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 // updateBooksSold updates the booksSold value to the one specified by the user
 func updateBooksSold(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	var updatedBooksSold int
+	var updatedBooksSold int64
 	err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&updatedBooksSold)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("Could not decode request body")
 	}
-	booksSold = updatedBooksSold
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&booksSold, updatedBooksSold)
 	setHeaders(w)
 	renderTemplate(w)
 	log.Info().Msgf("%s;  URL: %q;  %s: %d\n", getIdentity(), html.EscapeString(r.URL.Path), common.BooksBoughtHeader, booksSold)
@@ -90,7 +91,8 @@ func updateBooksSold(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 // sellBook increments the value of the booksSold
 func sellBook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	booksSold++
+	fmt.Println("Selling a book!")
+	atomic.AddInt64(&booksSold, 1)
 	setHeaders(w)
 	renderTemplate(w)
 	log.Info().Msgf("%s;  URL: %q;  Count: %d\n", getIdentity(), html.EscapeString(r.URL.Path), booksSold)
diff --git a/demo/cmd/bookthief/bookthief.go b/demo/cmd/bookthief/bookthief.go
index 8be9609ea5..a7dec539a6 100644
--- a/demo/cmd/bookthief/bookthief.go
+++ b/demo/cmd/bookthief/bookthief.go
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	booksStolen   = 0
-	booksStolenV1 = 0
-	booksStolenV2 = 0
-	log           = logger.NewPretty(participantName)
-	port          = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
-	path          = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
+	booksStolen   int64 = 0
+	booksStolenV1 int64 = 0
+	booksStolenV2 int64 = 0
+	log                 = logger.NewPretty(participantName)
+	port                = flag.Int("port", 80, "port on which this app is listening for incoming HTTP")
+	path                = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the HTML template")
 )
 
 func renderTemplate(w http.ResponseWriter) {
diff --git a/demo/cmd/common/books.go b/demo/cmd/common/books.go
index 6928b7d9d9..6b10739ca8 100644
--- a/demo/cmd/common/books.go
+++ b/demo/cmd/common/books.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/openservicemesh/osm/pkg/logger"
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ func GetEnv(envVar string, defaultValue string) string {
 }
 
 // GetBooks reaches out to the bookstore and buys/steals books. This is invoked by the bookbuyer and the bookthief.
-func GetBooks(participantName string, meshExpectedResponseCode int, egressExpectedResponseCode int, booksCount *int, booksCountV1 *int, booksCountV2 *int) {
+func GetBooks(participantName string, meshExpectedResponseCode int, egressExpectedResponseCode int, booksCount *int64, booksCountV1 *int64, booksCountV2 *int64) {
 	minSuccessThreshold, maxIterations, sleepDurationBetweenRequests := getEnvVars(participantName)
 
 	// The URLs this participant will attempt to query from the bookstore service
@@ -144,12 +145,12 @@ func GetBooks(participantName string, meshExpectedResponseCode int, egressExpect
 			if responseCode == http.StatusOK {
 				if url == buyBook {
 					if strings.HasPrefix(identity, "bookstore-v1") {
-						*booksCountV1++
-						*booksCount++
+						atomic.AddInt64(booksCountV1, 1)
+						atomic.AddInt64(booksCount, 1)
 						log.Info().Msgf("BooksCountV1=%d", booksCountV1)
 					} else if strings.HasPrefix(identity, "bookstore-v2") {
-						*booksCountV2++
-						*booksCount++
+						atomic.AddInt64(booksCountV2, 1)
+						atomic.AddInt64(booksCount, 1)
 						log.Info().Msgf("BooksCountV2=%d", booksCountV2)
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/demo/deploy-bookbuyer.sh b/demo/deploy-bookbuyer.sh
index 8de92f9c0a..8618d3b8e0 100755
--- a/demo/deploy-bookbuyer.sh
+++ b/demo/deploy-bookbuyer.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ set -aueo pipefail
 source .env
 BOOKSTORE_SVC="${BOOKSTORE_SVC:-bookstore}"
 CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD="${CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD:-0}"
+CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS="${CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS:-1}"
 EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE="${EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE:-200}"
 
 kubectl delete deployment bookbuyer -n "$BOOKBUYER_NAMESPACE"  --ignore-not-found
@@ -74,6 +75,8 @@ spec:
               value: "$CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD"
             - name: "EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE"
               value: "$EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE"
+            - name: "CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS"
+              value: "$CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS"
 
       imagePullSecrets:
         - name: "$CTR_REGISTRY_CREDS_NAME"
diff --git a/demo/deploy-bookthief.sh b/demo/deploy-bookthief.sh
index 58642be092..fbb46e04ed 100755
--- a/demo/deploy-bookthief.sh
+++ b/demo/deploy-bookthief.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ source .env
 BOOKSTORE_SVC="${BOOKSTORE_SVC:-bookstore}"
 BOOKTHIEF_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE="${BOOKTHIEF_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE:-404}"
 CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD="${CI_MAX_ITERATIONS_THRESHOLD:-0}"
+CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS="${CI_CLIENT_CONCURRENT_CONNECTIONS:-1}"
 EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE="${EGRESS_EXPECTED_RESPONSE_CODE:-200}"
 
 kubectl delete deployment bookthief -n "$BOOKTHIEF_NAMESPACE"  --ignore-not-found