Christmas quiz: 60 free questions and answers in 6 rounds

Round 1: Christmas traditions

1. On which date is Boxing Day?
2. In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, what is given on the fifth day?
3. Under which plant do people traditionally kiss at Christmas?
4. Which country gives London the Christmas tree that stands in Trafalgar Square each year?
5. Which kind of object was traditionally hidden inside a Christmas pudding to bring luck to whoever found it?
6. What name is given to the season that begins four Sundays before Christmas?
7. Which London confectioner is credited with inventing the Christmas cracker in the 1840s?
8. In the poem A Visit from St Nicholas, how many reindeer pull the sleigh?
9. Which queen's husband, Prince Albert, helped to make the Christmas tree popular in Britain?
10. What colour are the berries of European mistletoe?

Show the answers to round 1

1. 26 December source
2. Five gold rings (accept "golden rings") source
3. Mistletoe source
4. Norway (as of 14 November 2026) source
5. A silver coin (a sixpence or a threepence) source
6. Advent source
7. Tom Smith source
8. Eight source
9. Queen Victoria source
10. White source

Round 2: Christmas food and drink

1. In the UK, pigs in blankets are small sausages wrapped in what?
2. Which spirit is traditionally poured over a Christmas pudding and set alight?
3. Which German Christmas bread is filled with dried fruit, often with marzipan, and dusted with icing sugar?
4. Which tall, dome-shaped sweet bread from Milan is eaten at Christmas?
5. What is the name of the sweet mixture of dried fruit and spices that fills a mince pie?
6. Which Christmas drink is made from milk or cream, sugar and whipped eggs, often with rum or brandy?
7. Which Christmas dinner vegetable shares its name with the capital of Belgium?
8. Stir-up Sunday is the traditional day for making which Christmas food?
9. The French Christmas cake called a bûche de Noël is made in the shape of what?
10. Which sauce, made from a red berry, is traditionally served with roast turkey at Christmas?

Show the answers to round 2

1. Bacon source
2. Brandy source
3. Stollen source
4. Panettone source
5. Mincemeat source
6. Eggnog source
7. Brussels sprouts source
8. Christmas pudding source
9. A log (a Yule log) source
10. Cranberry sauce source

Round 3: Christmas films and TV

1. In the film Home Alone, what is the first name of the boy who is left behind?
2. In which city is the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street set?
3. Which actor plays Buddy in the 2003 film Elf?
4. Which Dr Seuss character tries to steal Christmas from the town of Whoville?
5. In It's a Wonderful Life, what is the first name of George Bailey's guardian angel?
6. Which 2003 film follows several love stories in London in the weeks before Christmas?
7. Which actor plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?
8. In the film The Polar Express, where is the train going?
9. Which 1982 animated television film, based on a picture book by Raymond Briggs, is about a boy whose snowman comes to life?
10. In Die Hard, in which Los Angeles building does the Christmas party take place?

Show the answers to round 3

1. Kevin source
2. New York source
3. Will Ferrell source
4. The Grinch source
5. Clarence source
6. Love Actually source
7. Michael Caine source
8. The North Pole source
9. The Snowman source
10. Nakatomi Plaza source

Round 4: Christmas music

1. Which charity single was the UK Christmas number one in 1984?
2. Which singer released All I Want for Christmas Is You in 1994?
3. Which band recorded Fairytale of New York with Kirsty MacColl?
4. Which duo released Last Christmas in 1984?
5. Which band had the UK Christmas number one in 1973 with Merry Xmas Everybody?
6. Which singer's 1942 recording of White Christmas became one of the best-selling singles of all time?
7. Which carol is called Stille Nacht in its original German?
8. Which Tchaikovsky ballet opens at a family party on Christmas Eve?
9. Who composed the oratorio Messiah, which is often performed at Christmas?
10. Which Welsh singer had a hit in 1985 with Walking in the Air?

Show the answers to round 4

1. Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid source
2. Mariah Carey source
3. The Pogues source
4. Wham! source
5. Slade source
6. Bing Crosby source
7. Silent Night source
8. The Nutcracker source
9. George Frideric Handel source
10. Aled Jones source

Round 5: Christmas around the world

1. In which country is it a popular custom to eat KFC at Christmas?
2. What is Father Christmas called in France?
3. Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Myra, which is in which modern-day country?
4. In the Netherlands, on which date in December do children traditionally get their main presents from Sinterklaas?
5. In which season does Christmas fall in Australia?
6. How do you say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish?
7. Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is a territory of which country?
8. In which present-day country did the custom of bringing a decorated Christmas tree into the home begin in the 16th century?
9. In Icelandic folklore, how many Yule Lads visit children in the nights before Christmas?
10. On which date do Orthodox churches that still use the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas Day?

Show the answers to round 5

1. Japan (as of 14 November 2026) source
2. Père Noël (accept "Papa Noël") source
3. Turkey (Türkiye) source
4. 5 December (Sinterklaas Eve) source
5. Summer source
6. Feliz Navidad source
7. Australia source
8. Germany source
9. 13 source
10. 7 January source

Round 6: Christmas history and stories

1. In A Christmas Carol, how many ghosts visit Scrooge, counting Jacob Marley?
2. In A Christmas Carol, what is the nickname of Bob Cratchit's youngest son?
3. In which year did British and German soldiers hold the Christmas truce on the Western Front?
4. Which king gave the first royal Christmas broadcast, on the radio in 1932?
5. In the Gospel of Luke, which Roman emperor orders the census that takes Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem?
6. According to the Gospel of Matthew, which three gifts did the wise men bring?
7. In which town was Jesus born, according to the Gospels?
8. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the White Witch makes it always winter in Narnia but never what?
9. Which king of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066?
10. Which saint's feast day, named in the carol Good King Wenceslas, falls on 26 December in the Western Church?

Show the answers to round 6

1. Four source
2. Tiny Tim source
3. 1914 source
4. George V source
5. Caesar Augustus (accept Augustus or Octavian) source
6. Gold, frankincense and myrrh source
7. Bethlehem source
8. Christmas source
9. William the Conqueror (William I) source
10. Saint Stephen source

Tie-breaker

If two teams finish level, ask this question. The team whose answer is closest wins.

1. In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many gifts are given in total if you count the repeats, so that the partridge is given twelve times?

Show the tie-breaker answer

1. 364 source