- The Twins Days Festival is an annual event that takes place in Twinsburg, Ohio.
- I attended the 48th one, which included over 1,800 sets of twins, plus families and friends.
I was waiting in my hotel lobby for an Uber to take me to the annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio when I met Dina Brewer and Rina Nicholas, 67, who came all the way from California. Like me, it was also their first year attending the event, and none of us realized the difficulties of getting a rideshare in suburban Ohio.
Luckily, they had met Kenn and Karl Mathews, 54, the day before — more seasoned festival goers who drove from New Jersey. Kenn and Karl offered us all a ride, and before I knew it, I was in the car laughing with two sets of identical twins.
I didn't fully know what to expect as a non-twin at a three-day celebration involving look-alike contests, a talent show, and a themed parade.
But I ended up having a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience that wasn't just fun and fascinating, but also very moving. Here are nine things that I learned along the way.
The twins festival has been happening for 48 years
The town of Twinsburg was originally founded by identical twins Moses and Aaron Wilcox in 1818 — twins who were so close, they died hours apart from each other.
Twins Days, which began in 1976 as a small, one-day celebration, quickly expanded from one day to a weekend, and eventually broke a world record for the largest gathering of twins.
The festival began with a few food booths and a concert, but has since expanded to include a range of activities including bingo, golf, and a hot dog roast. It also includes arts and crafts vendors, live entertainment, a fireworks show, and even on-site researchers seeking twin volunteers.
Festival goers are encouraged to bring their whole families or friends along, so anyone can partake and celebrate with the twins.
The whole town participates in the festivities
The bulk of the festival takes place in a large park and a neighboring high school in Twinsburg, so I imagined it stayed separate from the rest of the town.
In actuality, the whole town participates in helping the three-day weekend run smoothly, from driving attendees to different destinations in golf carts to crowds cheering on the parade.
I met volunteers who work at Twinsburg High School or have kids there, and was told it can take hundreds of people to run the festival. Some on-site volunteers have been working it almost every year since its inception in 1976.
Everyone wears elaborate costumes or identical outfits
The festival has a different theme each year, which is reflected in the parade. This year's theme was "Shiver Me Twinbers," so I saw many Captain Hooks, mermaids, and, my personal favorite: Two parrots with tiny pirates on their shoulders. People who drove cars through the parade also decorated them as ships or with balloon bubbles.
The people who didn't go for full costumes in 83-degree weather still dressed alike, whether it was fully matching outfits or graphic tees. Even fraternal twins (who seemed outnumbered by identical ones) went all out and chose coordinated looks.
Leaning into each other's sameness was part of the fun of the event.
People travel from all over the world to attend the festival
I spoke to twins from all over the US as well as from the UK, Jamaica, and Switzerland. Other twins I met remembered meeting twins from as far as Australia, and a pin map indicated that twins from Antarctica even made it out to Ohio for the festival at some point.
Some twins have been attending the festival for decades
While many people I spoke to were there for the first time, some had been attending every year for over four decades. A good number were brought as young children by their parents, and kept going long into adulthood.
Twins go there to feel normal
Many of the twins I spoke to about why they love the festival mentioned the same point: It's the one time of year when they don't have to feel like outsiders.
No one is asking them "Are you twins?" or "Can you read each other's minds?" or invasive questions about their dating lives. For once, they can jump right to asking other twins where they're from and what they like, instead of focusing on how different they are from non-twins.
For repeat festival goers, it's also like a family reunion to see twins from around the country and catch up over a long weekend.
Some twins believe that birth order affects personality traits
I saw a lot of attendees with "Twin A" and "Twin B" buttons, so I asked a few people what it meant. The general consensus is that the birth order — with Twin A being born earlier — correlates with personality traits, though no one really knows why and there's not much research that backs that theory up.
Twin As, like Dina, might be "friendly, but reserved" compared to her sister Rina, as she put it. Meanwhile, Rina, a Twin B, described herself as "loud, brown, and proud."
Other twins shared that they had similar experiences. Dana and Delanie Kriner, 25, were elected to serve on the festival's Royal Court this year, where their responsibilities involved making newcomers feel welcome.
Dana, Twin A of the duo, said that she's less outgoing than her sister Delanie, Twin B, but ultimately more of the decisionmaker of the two.
Once I learned about this, I caught myself trying to guess which twin was which when I met new pairs. But it also got me in the habit of really noticing the subtle differences between twins — even the most identical siblings stand out individually if you actually make an effort to get to know them outside of their twin relationship.
A few people have gotten engaged or married at the festival
Some years at the festival have been busier than others. A notable one was when two sets of twins met at the 2017 festival — and got married there a year later.
According to the festival pamphlet, another couple who met at a previous festival got engaged at 2022's event.
It makes sense: So much of the festival is centered around mingling or doing activities like cornhole or volleyball together, making it an easy way to connect with potential life partners.
The party goes on after the festival
Several sets of twins told me I had to check out the unofficial afterparty at a hotel in a neighboring town. People book rooms at that hotel in advance and even a Lyft driver I spoke to knew about it.
On the Saturday night of the festival, I stopped by the party, which was already well underway. Some people were dancing to the "Cha Cha Slide" in the hotel's banquet hall, while others nursed drinks and posed for photos together. I almost bumped into a man carrying a tray of Jell-o shots in orange slices.
Unlike the festival, I saw only twins there — no family members or other members of the media, like me. I felt like I stood out, and people were looking to see if I had a twin.
I ended up leaving early, but I found out later that some people stayed at the party until 3AM. I wondered if the late night partly accounted for fewer people and later turnouts on the last day of the festival.
The energy is infectious even if you're not a twin
As an only child, I was prepared to feel a little lonely during the festival. My biggest Instagram envy is seeing people who are close to their siblings — those who call their sister their best friend or travel everywhere with their brother. I was worried that being around thousands of dressed-up twins would magnify that longing to have someone in my life who grew up next to me.
But strangely, I didn't feel alone at all. Even in quieter moments, someone would talk to me. A twin waiting for his twin to arrive chatted with me for over 30 minutes. A family with two fraternal 10-year-old girls shared a lunch table with me. And Dina and Rina, who I bumped into again the next day, offered me a ride back to the hotel when Dina's husband came to pick them up.
Waiting for the car, Rina and I bumped into two other sets of twins who went right in for a hug. Everyone seemed to be bubbling from excitement, even as the festival drew to a close.
"If we had more of this energy, it'd be a beautiful world," Rina said when they left.
I think a lot about having kids, hoping (if I can help it) to have more than one. Maybe I'll have twins — and an excuse to come back.