Ottawa's sleepy core transformed into protest street party

FILE PHOTO: People dance on closed streets as truckers and supporters continue to protest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 4, 2022. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A sedate strip of Ottawa's downtown has been transformed into a weeks-long street party as anti-vaccine mandate protesters have settled in, complete with barbecues, bouncy castles and a hot tub, drawing the ire of the city's exhausted residents.

Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks, have lined a roughly one-mile stretch of the Canadian capital since Jan. 28, turning the picturesque avenue that runs in front of the Gothic-style Parliament complex and Supreme Court into a temporary home for the self-titled "Freedom Convoy."