Celebrate Twins Days in Twinsburg

Long before the city of Twinsburg became a place where thousands gathered each summer to celebrate their unique sibling bond, a pair of twin brothers from Connecticut set the stage for what has become one of our state’s most unusual festivals. 

The largest annual gathering of twins in the world happens the first weekend of August in this Summit County city. (It’s set for Aug. 7 through 9 in 2026.) Founded in 1976 to coincide with the nation’s bicentennial, the event also reflects a deeper community history that even people who are familiar with the festival may not know about.  

In the early 19th century, the Connecticut Land Co. owned the land that became Twinsburg, which was at the time known as Millsville. In 1818, identical twins Moses and Aaron Wilcox bought over 4,000 acres of that land and sold it off in low-priced parcels to other settlers. The brothers offered 6 acres for a public square and $20 toward the community’s first school if residents would agree to change the settlement’s name to Twinsburg. 

Almost two centuries later, on the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, city volunteers planning Twinsburg’s participation in the celebration designated a day for twins. The first Twins Day Festival was a flag raising and dedication at the Wilcox Memorial followed by a picnic. 

In the following years, volunteers kept the idea going, and Twins Day eventually expanded to a multiday festival with food stalls, live music and a parade. Executive director of the festival and a twin himself, Andrew Miller says he’s only ever missed one festival in the event’s history. His father was executive director of the festival before he took over in 2007.

“[The festival] just continued to grow and grow,” he says. “Then somehow we started to get international media coverage and then we started to get people attending from overseas.”

Today, Twins Days is an all-out celebration of all things multiple. It attracts thousands of sets of twins, triplets, quadruplets and other multiples from around the globe to show off their biological connection through talent shows, look-a-like contests, parades and other twin-focused activities. 

“For the ones who have been coming for a long time, the common thing we hear is that it becomes a reunion,” Miller says. “It gives them a place to celebrate their twinship.” Glen Chamberlain Park, 10260 Ravenna Rd., Twinsburg 44087, 330/425-3652, twindays.org

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