Thousands of twins gather in Ohio every August. Here's the fascinating history behind the tradition.

• The Twins Days Festival occurs in Twinsburg, Ohio every August.
• The town was founded by identical twins and the festival began in 1976.

Every year, a small suburban town called Twinsburg, Ohio hosts the Twins Days Festival — the largest gathering of twins in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Twins from all over the US as well as countries like Switzerland and Jamaica attend, with roughly 2,000 sets of twins registering each year. The weekend includes festivities like a parade and look-alike contests, with twins encouraged to dress alike in matching costumes and outfits. I went this year for the first time, and had an amazing experience. I also found out that the festival has a fascinating history.

Twinsburg, Ohio was named after two identical twins

Twinsburg was founded in 1817 and originally called Millsville (not as fun).

Two years later, identical twins Aaron and Moses Wilcox, originally from Connecticut, bought 4,000 acres of land and attracted more settlers by selling cheap tracts.

They offered to donate land to a public square and a school under one condition: The town would be renamed Twinsburg.

The Wilcox twins married sisters, worked together, and were allegedly so identical that only people who were really close to them could tell them apart. They even died on the same day, from the same disease (though the disease itself was undocumented).

Twins Days began as a small, one-day festival

To celebrate America's bicentennial year in 1976, a small committee decided to honor the Wilcox twins with a day just for twins.The town raised a flag, revealed a monument of the Wilcoxs, and dedicated a picnic shelter in Glenn Chamberlin Park — the future site of Twins Days Festivals to come. 36 sets of twins showed up.

The next year, the event involved more fanfare, including a band concert, square dancing, and a bike-and-buggy event for children.

It grew into a three-day weekend and hosts twins from all over the world

Now in its 48th year, the festival has since morphed from Twins Day to Twins Days, always taking place on the first weekend of August.

The three-day event features a different theme each year (from "Twice Upon a Time" to "Twinstock") and includes festivities like talent shows, a volleyball tournament, fireworks, and even opportunities for twins to participate in on-site research. Many twins also attend an unofficial afterparty to continue to spend time together.

According to the Twins Days organizers, over 84,000 sets of twins have attended the festival from 1976-2022 (2020's was canceled due to the pandemic). Twins have come from as far as Nigeria, Brazil, Australia, Ghana, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, France, Italy, England, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Korea, China, and India to celebrate their relationship with other twins.