About the event
Date and time: 7.30pm-9.00pm AEDT*, Thursday 18 November 2021
TwinsFest is the first-of-its-kind virtual twin event aiming to attract a national and global audience. It is hosted by not-for-profit Twins Research Australia, an eminent twin research institute based at the University of Melbourne. Established in 1981, TRA has undertaken over 250 studies involving thousands of volunteer twins and their families, and delivered breakthroughs to benefit the health of everyone.
TwinsFest is not only celebrating 40 years of twin research and the people who made it possible, but twin-ship itself and the unique experiences of twins and their families. The virtual event, aimed at adults, presents a festival atmosphere with entertainment, food and drinks, celebrity appearances, fun games (including a photo competition and trivia quiz) as well as great prizes to be won through a major raffle and silent auction. Best of all, it can be enjoyed by twins and parents – no matter where they live – from the comfort of their lounge rooms.
Most importantly, all proceeds from the night will go towards health research to benefit the wellbeing of twins and their families.
Please join us for this (virtual) festival like no other!
* Australian Eastern Daylight Time
The aims of the virtual festival are:
Did you know? There are around 750,000 multiples (twins, triplets and above) in Australia (based on an estimate that three percent of Australia’s population is a multiple). Twins Research Australia has around 75,000 members, or around 10 percent of Australian twins are TRA members.
For our TwinsFest event, we expect largely an Australian audience but the event may also attract international participants. TwinsFest is recommended for ages 16 and above, including:
As we have not held an event like this before, it will be a first-time opportunity to gauge the interest of the multiple-birth community in such an event. From other public forums that we’ve previously held, we know that twins and parents of twins enjoy connecting with others in their multiple-birth community. TRA, in conjunction with the Australian Multiple Birth Association, held in-person Melbourne-based twin festivals in 2012 and 2015 with record attendance of 3000 patrons reached in 2012.
With the reach of our promotional campaign, and by presenting a popular program, we are hoping to attract 1000-plus attendees at our first-ever TwinsFest. We hope this will be a forerunner to an annual online event for the multiple-birth community. See below for details of the event promotional campaign.
Registration, ticketing and payment are operated by TRA through the Humanitix platform. Raffle is conducted through RaffleLink, and silent auction through GalaBid.
'Early bird' $30 ticket is offered until a week prior to the event; full price ticket is $40.
Guests are invited to contribute an additional $10 towards ‘event running costs’ at checkout. They also have the opportunity to make a further donation if interested.
A ticket purchase includes an online event program and link to the virtual event; access to the competitions; participation in the major raffle and silent auction; and recipes from twin celebrity chefs.
The virtual major raffle and silent auction closes towards the end of the gala. They will be launched three weeks prior to the gala to provide advance event publicity, and to enable people to make bids early.
Proceeds from TwinsFest will support TRA and its research addressing issues of importance to twins and multiples.
The program - from 7.30pm-9.00pm AEDT* - aims to showcase multiple-birth entertainers, presenters, personalities and researchers. It also includes fun activities such as a twin trivia quiz, and photo competitions for most-alike/least-alike identical and fraternal twins etc.
Please note: this format is provisional and will be finalised once invited special guests have confirmed their availability. The program will be finalised by late October and shared with all program participants.
Prior to the show, twin chefs provide recipes/menu for cocktails, mocktails and snack ideas for enjoying during the show
* Australian Eastern Daylight Time
TRA plans an extensive targeted program of promotions to inform and motivate multiple-birth audiences to join our event. The following table outlines the different types of audiences, and promotional channels to reach 100,000 plus people in this specific community in Australia and around the world.
TRA has well established communication channels within the multiple-birth community, including our database of over 75,000 members and nearly 15,000 followers on Facebook as well as partnerships with key organisations such as the University of Melbourne, Australian Multiple Birth Association (AMBA), and International Committee of Multiple Birth Organisations (ICOMBO).
Our official social media and event hashtags are:
The campaign will include regular communications to build excitement in the lead-up to TwinsFest such as an ‘early bird’ ticket offer; feature stories on guest entertainers, interviewees and special guests; and the launch of the major raffle and silent auction (people will be able to purchase raffle tickets and bid for silent auctions prior to, as well as on the night of, the event).
Audience |
Communication channels |
Australian TRA members - adult twins and HOM’s (triplets and above), parents of twins/HOMs |
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Australian multiple-birth community (non-TRA members) - twins/HOMs adults and parents of twins/HOMs |
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Australian twin researchers and their teams |
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Australian partner organisations e.g. University of Melbourne, Australian Multiple Birth Association |
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International multiple-birth community – twins/HOMs adults and parents of twins |
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TwinsFest provides a unique opportunity to promote your brand and services to a motivated and enthusiastic audience at a one-of-a-kind event. All proceeds from the event go towards research to benefit the health of twins and their families.
We are seeking donations of products and services to be used for the major raffle and silent auction. Benefits for our business donors include:
If you would like to learn more about becoming involved in TwinsFest and the benefits for your business, please contact TRA Communications and Marketing at lynettew@unimelb.edu.au or angela.clover@unimelb.edu.au
Not-for-profit Twins Research Australia is unique – we are the only dedicated national facility in Australia, based at the University of Melbourne, bringing twins and researchers together for vital health research to not only benefit the health of twins but all Australians.
Our International Patron is Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, herself a mother of twins.
There is no more powerful way to investigate genetic and environmental influences on health and disease than twin research. It has contributed to important insights into some of our most pressing health concerns including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, asthma, and mental health.
Twin research offers the potential to fast-track research and to find cures faster. Twins bring known genetic and environmental factors to a study, thus saving time and resources in establishing baseline data for research. Also our state-of-the-art database of 75,000 volunteer twins – one of the biggest in the world – matches eligible twins to relevant research projects. This means researchers don’t have to undertake their own time-consuming and costly searches for study participants.
TRA relies on the generous support of the community to help us to continue our vital research. While TRA currently receives some government support, it does not cover all of our operating costs or research priorities - and there is no certainty that this support will continue in the long-term. Fundraising activities like TwinsFest ensure out research can continue to address the most pressing health concerns of our world both now and into the future.
Facebook Competition
You could win a gift card of $50 for each twin/triplet
To enter you must:
- Upload a photo of a twin pair or triplet set, including their names, in the comments
- Like the Twins Research Australia Facebook Page.
Terms and Conditions:
This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook
Social Media Terms and Conditions
a) Participants must like the Twins Research Australia Facebook Page.
b) Participants must be 16 years old or older at the time of the competition; and also in the photo submitted.
c) If a parent enters a photo of their children; the children must be aged over 16 years to be a valid entry and to receive the monetary prize. The parent will be contacted to verify age and contact details for 16-17 year old twins/triplets; for twins/triplets aged over 18, parents will need to provide contact details so that TRA can ascertain permission for the photo to be used for the purposes of this competition.
d) To enter, participants must upload a photo of a twin pair or triplet set in the comments on the specific Facebook post. There is a specific Facebook post for each of the 5 categories;