Twinning in the fast lane: Twins Days attracts international visitors for Twindy 500

Siblings from across the globe were off to the races in Twinsburg for the city's 49th annual Twins Days Festival.

Twins and multiples wore garb honoring racing of any kind — including cars, dogs, bob sleds, boats — throughout last weekend's event. Attendees took the festival's theme, "Twindy 500: Off two the races," as serious as a car crash.

It was A'ishah Bhatti and Sandra Shindon's first time at the event after dreaming of coming for years. While the twins, 56, were raised in New York City, Bhatti was coming from Texas and Shindon from North Carolina.

"It's overwhelming, it's like information overload with so many twins," Bhatti said. "But the best part about it is to be in a room amongst peers that are twins that know about the connection you have with your twin that has unspoken words. You don't have to say anything about it and they know that connection and that bond. It's amazing."

Seeing double in Double Take Parade

Most Twins Days activities took place at Glen Chamberlin Park at 10260 Ravenna Road. On Saturday, the Double Take Parade comprised of parade floats and costumed twins made its way to the park where there were contests, talent shows, games, rides, fireworks and more.

Twins Meadow and Monique Rivas, 17, made the five-hour plane ride from Los Angeles to see what all the hubbub was about. The shear number of people at the festival was startling to them, along with the beauty of Ohio itself.

"Ohio is totally different than California," Meadow said. "It's a lot more spacious and there's a lot more greenery."

Even for those within Ohio, it's not unusual for twins and multiples to use Twins Days as a sort of family reunion with not just their sibling, but also other twins that they've befriended over the years at the festival.

Quadruplets Nina, Ally, Claire and Lauren Hudson, 17, of Pepper Pike celebrated their 13th year at Twins Days. Lauren shared her favorite aspect about being a recurring attendee.

"Meeting all the people and seeing people we recognize from each year," she said. "A lot of people noticed us growing up so it's really fun."

Around the world in 80 twins

In 2022, more than 1,600 registered twins and multiples from all over the world attended the festival, which is recorded as being the largest annual gathering of twins in the world by Guinness World Records. This year, twins arrived from as far away as Kenya, the Ryukyu Islands in Japan, Iceland and Iran, according to a world map at the festival.

Canadian twins Leon and Arlo S., 38, adorned themselves in thematic and patriotic attire. The two wore Canadian drinking helmets hooked up to cans of Fat Tire Ale and capes made in the image of their home country's flag.

The pair came to Twins Days for the first time when they were 22 years old. Since that first visit, they have returned to the event over a dozen times.

"This was the mecca that we heard about when we were growing up," Leon said. "So, this has been an important place for us. And then, when we lived in separate cities, Arlo and I would fly in and meet each other here at Cleveland and then drive down. It was one of three times a year that we'd see each other."

Twins Days Festival history

Twinburg was founded and named after identical twin brothers Aaron and Moses Wilcox in 1818. The Twins Days Festival began as single-day event as part of the city's participation in the national bicentennial celebration. The festival, which now runs over a weekend, has an estimated annual attendance of 20,000 to 30,000.

Got a story recommendation? Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans. And follow her adventures on TikTok @akronbeaconjournal.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Attendees were off to the races at Twinsburg Twins Days Festival