Christmas trivia questions, with answers

Twenty-five festive questions about carols, Christmas films, festive food and traditions around the world. Guess first, then tap to see the answer.

Play the Christmas quiz The Christmas quiz on a phone: question 1 of 20, with a field to type the answer

A quiz for the whole family

Christmas trivia works because everyone has something to contribute. The children know the films, the grandparents know the carols and the history, and somebody always knows what the Dutch, the Swedes or the Poles do on their own big day. The questions below are mostly easy and a few are tricky, so a mixed group can play together.

They cover classic stories such as A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, songs everyone hums in December, Sinterklaas and the Yule Lads, and the foods and customs that differ from country to country.

How to play it

Read one question at a time, let people shout or write down their answers, and open the answer underneath. Keep score with a point for each right answer, and finish with the hardest questions as a tie-breaker. It also works as a quiz at the dinner table, in the classroom on the last day of term, or at an office Christmas party.

If you would rather not read questions out loud, Trivvy has a full Christmas quiz with twenty different questions. Create a room, share the four-character code, and everybody plays on their own phone while the app judges the answers and shows the scoreboard.

Free, with nothing to download

Trivvy runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, in ten languages. You type your answers, small spelling mistakes are accepted, and you never need an account. The Christmas quiz can be played all year round, and it appears on the front page from the first of December.

Which Wham! song from 1984 is about a love that went wrong last December?
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Last Christmas
In the Philippines, what are the nine dawn masses held in the days before Christmas called?
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Simbang Gabi
In A Christmas Carol, which dead business partner visits the miser in chains?
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Jacob Marley
Which fish is the traditional main dish on Christmas Eve in Poland and the Czech Republic?
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Carp
In Iceland, thirteen mischievous characters visit children before Christmas. What are they called?
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The Yule Lads
Which band, led by Roy Wood, had the 1973 hit I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday?
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Wizzard
Which 1984 charity single, organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia?
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Do They Know It's Christmas?
In which 1990 film is a boy accidentally left behind when his family flies to Paris?
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Home Alone
Which carol was first performed in an Austrian church in 1818?
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Silent Night
Which Swedish saint's day on 13 December is marked with candles and saffron buns?
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Lucia
Which Baroque composer wrote the Christmas Oratorio?
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Which Dickens character famously says "Bah! Humbug!"?
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Ebenezer Scrooge
Which Welsh singer recorded the 1985 hit Merry Christmas Everyone?
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Shakin' Stevens
In which Bavarian city is the Christkindlesmarkt, one of Germany's most famous Christmas markets?
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Nuremberg
In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many gifts are given in total across all twelve days?
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364
In the traditional Catholic Advent wreath, what colour is the candle lit on the third Sunday?
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Pink
Which actor plays Buddy, the human raised by elves, in the 2003 film Elf?
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Will Ferrell
Which day is Boxing Day in the UK?
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26 December
Which Tchaikovsky ballet is performed in theatres all over the world every December?
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The Nutcracker
Which Scandinavian festival of light on 13 December is led by a girl in a white dress with candles in her hair?
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Saint Lucia's Day – It is celebrated especially in Sweden.
Which jazz pianist wrote the music for the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas?
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Vince Guaraldi
What do Dutch children leave in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse?
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Hay or carrots
Which Pogues song, with Kirsty MacColl, is a Christmas favourite set in a city in the US?
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Fairytale of New York
Which Spanish cake is eaten on 6 January, the day of the Three Kings?
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Roscón de Reyes
In A Christmas Carol, which spirit shows Scrooge his lonely past?
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The Ghost of Christmas Past

Play the Christmas quiz

Christmas trivia questions, with answers

A quiz for the whole family

How to play it

Free, with nothing to download

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