Seeing double at the Twins Days Festival in Ohio
The Twins Days Festival bills itself as the largest annual gathering of twins in the world. While the festival celebrates the unique bond between twins, it's also a hub for scientists studying what makes them so alike – and so different. Deema Zein reports from Twinsburg, Ohio.
The Twins Days Festival is the world's largest annual celebration of twins and multiples, held each August in Twinsburg, Ohio. Beyond being a gathering of twin enthusiasts, the festival attracts scientists studying the unique bond between twins and the factors that make them alike and different. Festivals like this one provide a unique opportunity for scientific research, as researchers can gather data on twins in a condensed timeframe, which would typically take years to collect under normal circumstances.
The festival has been held every year since 1976, welcoming around 2,000 sets of twins each year. Twinsburg, the city that hosts the festival, was renamed Twinsburg in the early 19th century after a pair of identical twin landowners donated land and money towards the town's first schoolhouse. The festival began as a celebration of the city's twin founders and has since evolved to include parades, contests, and a variety of activities that have become a beloved tradition for twin families from all over the world.
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