Amna Nawaz:
Among the many fairs and festivals this summer, there’s only one where seeing double doesn’t require a drink. 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 doubles the fun in Twinsburg, Ohio.
Deema Zein:
Thirty-six-year-old Vilma and Cesia Gutierrez love being identical twins.
Cesia Gutierrez, Twin:
My favorite part of being a twin is just knowing that I always have her, and like I can always say it’s two against the world.
Deema Zein:
Years ago, they stumbled upon a festival that made them do a double-take, the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio.
Man:
Happy Twins Day.
Deema Zein:
For the last 50 years, twins and multiples from across the globe meet every August to celebrate their twinness.
Adam Cordner, Twin:
Coming here just kind of reminds you how cool it is to be a twin and special. And…
Nathan Cordner, Twin:
You are special.
Adam Cordner:
I am special.
Terri Coleman-Randolph, Twin:
We’re in a twin bubble all weekend. And people aren’t asking you silly twin questions.
James Wilson, Twin:
You feel normal because no one’s looking, like, are you twins?
Kaitlyn Hawthorne, Twin:
There’s just no other kind of bond than being a twin.
Deema Zein:
A bond that has its struggles.
Tracy Renbarger, Twin:
What about our fights?
Terri Jelinek, Twin:
So I…
Tracy Renbarger:
We fight like no other.
Nathan Cordner:
And the worst part, I look like him.
(Laughter)
Deema Zein:
But also major perks.
Jamis Kukura, Twin:
We’re in the same grade. So we can just help each other on homework and stuff.
Heidi Ryall, Twin:
She couldn’t finish her class. She got pregnant and so I finished it for her. I got her from a D to B, and the teacher never caught on.
Hannah Wolfe, Twin:
You’re not supposed to say what my grade was.
Deema Zein:
And even a vocabulary of its own.
Melissa Smith, Twin:
She’s A and I’m B.
Melanie Herren, Twin:
A is just this the twin that was born first, and B is the twin that was born second. It’s just twin lingo that you catch on to.
Deema Zein:
The twin bond isn’t just a theme of the festival. It’s baked into the identity of the city that hosts it, says executive director Andy Miller.
Andy Miller, Executive Director, Twins Days Festival:
There’s a lot of wonderful fairs and festivals throughout Ohio and the United States. I think one of the things that makes this special is the subject of our event are people, and they just happen to be identical twins.
Deema Zein:
Twinsburg was once called Millsville until it was renamed after a pair of identical twins in the early 19th century.
Andy Miller:
Aaron Wilcox and Moses Wilcox were landowners, and they donated six acres of property, which now is the town square, along with $20 towards the first schoolhouse in exchange for renaming Millsville to Twinsburg in honor of their twinship.
Deema Zein:
The festival began in 1976, when 36 sets of twins gathered to celebrate the city’s twin founders. Today, the festival welcomes around 2,000 sets of twins each year.
Andy Miller:
This year, we decided to have an 80s theme, and it’s called Twins Day’s Totally Two-Bular with T-W-O.
Jaquada Royal-Crockett, Twin:
We’re paying homage to the late Tina Turner.
Laquala Royal-Bartek, Twin:
Legendary.
Deema Zein:
Along with a parade and contests, ranking twins on everything from most alike and least alike to youngest and oldest…
Man:
Ninety and one-half.
Deema Zein:
… there’s one surprising benefit, unique opportunities for scientific research.
Dr. Kelly Scarberry, University Hospitals:
With identical twins, they share the exact same DNA. So we’re able to specifically study whether environmental factors or DNA contribute to them developing diseases.
Deema Zein:
Dr. Kelly Scarberry is a dermatologist at University Hospitals among the many research institutions set up at the festival. At his tent, twins scan a Q.R. code and fill out a survey.
Dr. Kelly Scarberry:
Asking about whether they have certain conditions, skin diseases, and determining whether any environmental factors they have come across in their life is contributing to these diseases.
Andy Miller:
They can gather enough data in a day-and-a-half up here at the festival that would normally take them about three years to gather that information, because it’s all contained here and there’s a plethora of subjects to test from.
Deema Zein:
Researchers from the FBI to beauty brands have used Twin Festival participants to study skin aging, burnout, and facial recognition technology.
Skyler Nick, Twin:
Because I’m able to unlock his iPhone.
Spencer Nick, Twin:
And I’m able to unlock his iPhone. So they haven’t gotten it down pat yet.
Deema Zein:
But for the twins, many of whom return year after year, it’s the relationships they form that keep them coming back.
Donald Fitzgerald, Twin:
Every year we come back, we keep meeting more new friends.
Vilma Gutierrez, Twin:
This has honestly become like our second family.
Cesia Gutierrez:
Yes.
Vilma Gutierrez:
And, fortunately, last year, I met my husband, so I was able to marry a twin. We have a baby now.
Deema Zein:
While Vilma Gutierrez’s baby girl is what twins call a singleton, without a twin of her own, she’s still surrounded by double the love.
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Deema Zein.
