AUTHOR’S NOTE: I returned to the festival in 2019, which you can read about HERE.
This post documents my experience on August 7, 2010.
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In 1819, two brothers from Connecticut, Moses and Aaron Wilcox, came to the very small town of Millsville, Ohio. In their possession were 4,000 acres of land that they sold in small parcels at small prices to tempt people to settle there.
And those people did.
The area grew at a much faster rate than neighboring communities and the town of Millsville began to grow.
But the Wilcox brothers weren’t only important to the area for their good business sense. These lifelong business partners were identical twins, a detail that shaped a special deal they later made the town…
Moses and Aaron were willing to give Millsville $20 to start a school and 6 acres for a public square. All the town had to do was change Millsville’s name…
‘
…to Twinsburg.
It was only a matter of time before a Twins Day Festival was created.
In 1976, the first annual festival had 36 sets of twins attend.
Thirty four years later, there are about 3,000 sets of twins…
…who come in from all over the world…
…to O-H…I-O.
Yes, twins (and all multiples) made a strong presence at the Twins Day Festival…
…dressing alike (check out the stuffed pooches to the right)…
…and posing for photos…
…while taking a few photos themselves.
The most beautiful thing about the Twins Day Festival wasn’t only this celebration of twins, but this opportunity for twins to network among themselves and meet others. As a non-twin observer, I loved seeing how easily everyone came together…
…whether meeting each other for the first time…
…or after many times.
And, thanks to the fact that twins dressed alike, it was easily to catch them in all areas of the festival grounds…
…it was even a little surreal at times.
This year, the festival had a Roundup theme and many twins took part…
…as cowboys…
…as outlaws…
…or cowgirls.
Even some of the booths followed suit.
When the twins weren’t conversing with each other, they were watching or participating in…
…the Twins Talent Show Tent…
…where these brothers from Texas did some clogging…
…or they competed in the Twins Contests…
…where these brothers won the least identical twins award.
But the festival wasn’t strictly for twins.Before you even reached the admission gates, a carnival offered…
…all types of rides…
…and carnival games.
Then, if you were a twin set or multiple…l
…you could register to get in for free…
…or pay the $3 to take advantage of the festival’s offerings.
These offerings included…
…a midway with various booths…
…a woodsy vendor area…
…and plenty of grub.
I mean plenty!
For those with children…
…there were playgrounds…
…and an enclosed carnival…
…with plenty of games.
For the adults, which may have included those kids’ parents, there was another enclosed entertainment center only a few feet away…
…the beer court.
Of course, organizations did take advantage of this great collection of twins and multiples. Scattered about the festival grounds, twin issues resonated. Booths concerning…
…twins-related organizations…
…and health issues were found among the vendor sections.
And while some booths tried to spread information and awareness, others tried to collect it. Set off to the side sat multiple booths that created…
…a research area.
Here, corporations, institutes, hospitals and even the FBI had set up for twins research.
In exchange for their time, questioning and what-not, volunteering twin sets received gift bags or cash payment.
Although this section of the festival honestly gave me the willies, it’s hard for me to pass judgment for either the research-collecting or research-giving sides. On part of the institutions, this may be the best opportunity ever to gather so much helpful data in one location – data that could consequently save lives.On part of the twins, it may be a super easy way to get some free stuff.
I, myself, took great pleasure in getting…
…a free Twin Pop and Eat’n Park cookie for free.
So you can bet I’d be at those booths like an eager trick-or-treater.