Each summer, for six weeks, Garezers is open to just over 300 campers. Adjacent to the camp is a resort area for parents, alumni, and friends. While many immigrant communities dissipate after 3 generations abroad, Garezers continues to operate, 50 years since it was founded in 1965.
What keeps Garezers going?
The film follows campers of all ages, from eight year olds learning everything from Latvian traditional pottery to competition speed walking, to high schoolers studying for oral exams (biļetes) on subjects from Latvian grammar to Latvia's GNP past midnight. We meet graduates of the first class from the sixties, and even a few who were there when Garezers went from concept to reality. Viewers get a first-person experience riding on the truck on the infamous "Garbage Run", and learn volleyball from Olympic gold medalist Aldis Bērziņš, who got his start in the sport at Garezers.
