Seeing double at the Ohio Twins Days Festival

In August last year, on the very first night that Harmony Ferreira spent in Twinsburg, Ohio, she met a pair of identical twin brothers, who invited her to join them at a party that night. The photographer had travelled to the town for the 50^th anniversary edition of the Twins Days Festival, a three-day event in which the town sees the largest gathering of twins in the world, with over 2,000 pairs of twins attending each year.

The party took place in one of the town’s biggest hotels, set in its opulent ballroom. And everyone there, bar the photographer and her friend, came as a pair. ​“We were the only non-twins of the party,” she says. ​“It was very epic, we were dancing with twins, having fun, drinking, everything – it was actually like a movie. I think it was one of the best parties of my life.”

For the next few days, Ferreira snapped countless shots of twins at the festival, capturing intimate portraits as they matched clothes, ate food together and chatted with other twins. What she saw is now all captured in her series Twins Days Festival 2025, and immortalised in a short documentary she made and published to YouTube.

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“I don’t have a rational reason to be into twins, because I don’t have a twin,” she says. ​“But it’s a very fascinating connection and it’s a deep friendship too, and I’ve always been curious to learn more about this.”

Across the Twins Days Festival’s three-day duration, Twinsburg sees double, with activities such as 2v2 volleyball, twingo (twin bingo) and a twin talent contest, where identical siblings sing duets, perform synchronised dances and other varieties of paired acts. It’s highlighted by a large parade through the city, the Double Take Parade, which features themed floats and matching marching twins, who set off from the town square. The 2025 theme celebrated the festival’s half century, while the theme for the 2026 edition has already been announced: ​“Totally Two-bular.”

“People from all across the country come, and it’s so American – you have the sheriff, the mayor, like everyone’s there,” Ferreira explains. ​“And then you have 2,000 pairs of twins walking and dressed the same.”

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Twins Days Festival’s fun, quirky energy is captured throughout Ferreira’s portraits, as well as its diversity, with twins of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. But just below the surface lies a deeper meaning for attendees. Having spent their younger years growing up as statistical anomalies – one in every 42 children born is a twin – many remember times when they were stared at, or were. In creating a whole world for others themselves for a weekend, the festival provides the twins with a space to connect with people who have lived through similar experiences.

“It’s easier being a twin these days, because of social media there’s greater visibility for people around the world,” Ferreira says. ​“But when you are 60 and born in an earlier generation from a tiny town in Nevada, you don’t meet a lot of twins, and it’s easy to feel very alone. So at the festival, they are really happy to find other people to talk to about this. Even now, I don’t know a lot of twins – I know more because of Instagram – but before it was worse, so they feel it’s important to celebrate.”

And the same applies for younger twins. ​“I met some of the younger generation, too, and it was only their first or second time coming to the festival, and for the same reasons, they just wanted to fit in and connect to the community,” she continues. ​“They feel at home.”

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Twins Days Festival 2025 ultimately captures a weekend of unity and togetherness, at a time when the USA is more divided than in recent history, particularly between the nation’s traditionally left-leaning urban areas and its red rural regions. In Twinsburg, Ohio, people from across the country came together to find common ground to bond over, despite their varying backgrounds.

“The situation in America is not peaceful,” Ferreira says. ​“But in real life the situation is more complicated – the media focuses on the fragmentation and chaos, and of course the big picture. But it’s also important to remember that even if you aren’t on the same political side, or share thoughts, you can meet at some point and feel connected by other values.”

To see more of Harmony Ferreira’s work, visit her official website.

Additional production by Agathe Pelisson.

Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.

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