Every year without fail, my family's Christmas quiz descends into absolute chaos by the third round. Last year it was my uncle Dave who kicked things off — absolutely convinced, hand on heart, that "Jingle Bells" was written as a Christmas song. He was so smug about it. Reader, it was not written as a Christmas song. It was written for Thanksgiving. The look on his face when I read out the answer was, genuinely, the best gift I received that year.
Christmas is one of those topics that feels like a guaranteed crowd-pleaser at a quiz night, but it's sneakier than it looks. Everyone thinks they know Christmas inside out because they've lived through it fifty-odd times — but that familiarity is exactly what trips people up. They'll sail through the easy ones and then completely blank on something they should definitely know, like which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree, or what Mrs Claus's first name is in most traditional tellings. Christmas quiz questions hit differently because they carry that emotional weight of nostalgia, and people get genuinely flustered when the answers don't match what they've always assumed to be true.
In this post I've put together 50 Christmas quiz questions split across five rounds to take you right through the festive season in style. We've got Christmas Traditions, Christmas Films and TV, Christmas Songs, Christmas History, and Christmas Food and Drink — so whether your crowd are film buffs, history nerds, or just people who care very deeply about mince pies, there's something here to test everyone.
One thing I'd say before you dive in: these questions are designed to work for a mixed-age group, which is exactly what most Christmas gatherings look like. I've tried to balance the classic gimmes — the kind that make Grandma feel brilliant — with a few genuinely tricky ones that'll have the confident know-it-alls squirming. I'd suggest splitting your group into teams of three or four rather than playing individually, because Christmas quizzes are always better when there's a bit of team debate going on. That's where the magic happens.
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Round 1: Christmas Traditions
This round is all about the customs and rituals we take for granted every December — which is precisely why it catches people out. Some of these traditions are much older, or much stranger, than people realise, and a couple of the answers genuinely surprised me when I was putting this together. Don't let the familiarity fool you.
1. In which country did the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree originate?
✓ Germany
💡 The modern Christmas tree tradition is widely credited to 16th-century German Christians who decorated evergreen trees indoors during winter.
2. What is the name of the tradition where a large Christmas candle is lit on Christmas Eve, most associated with Ireland?
✓ The Christmas Candle (or Coinneal Mór na Nollag)
💡 The candle was traditionally placed in the window to guide Mary and Joseph, and neighbours could see it as a symbol of welcome.
3. How many reindeer does Santa traditionally have, including Rudolph?
✓ Nine
💡 The original eight reindeer were named in an 1823 poem. Rudolph wasn't added until 1939, created by Robert L. May for Montgomery Ward.
4. True or false: it is considered bad luck in some parts of the UK to leave Christmas decorations up after Twelfth Night?
✓ True
💡 Twelfth Night falls on 5th January, and the superstition holds that any decorations left up after this invite bad luck for the coming year.
5. What gift would you traditionally give on the fifth day of Christmas, according to the famous song?
✓ Five gold rings
💡 The song's gifts escalate steeply — by day twelve, the total number of gifts given across all twelve days adds up to 184.
6. In which country is it traditional to eat KFC as a Christmas meal, following a hugely successful 1974 marketing campaign?
✓ Japan
💡 KFC Japan's "Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii" campaign was so effective that people now pre-order their Christmas KFC months in advance.
7. What is traditionally hidden inside a Christmas pudding in the UK?
✓ A coin (traditionally a sixpence, now often a new penny or small coin)
💡 Finding the coin is said to bring wealth and good luck for the year ahead — though it has sent more than a few people to the dentist.
8. Name the country where the Christmas witch Befana is said to deliver gifts to children on the eve of Epiphany, 5th January.
✓ Italy
💡 Befana fills children's stockings with sweets if they've been good, or coal if they've been naughty — very similar to Father Christmas.
9. Which plant, associated with Christmas decoration, is traditionally said to require you to kiss whoever is standing beneath it?
✓ Mistletoe
💡 The kissing tradition likely dates back to ancient Norse mythology and Druidic customs, long before it became a Christmas staple.
10. In the UK, what name is given to the Christmas bonus or gift that employers traditionally gave to tradespeople and servants on 26th December?
✓ A Christmas box (which is why 26th December is called Boxing Day)
💡 The "box" referred to a physical clay box that was broken open to reveal the money saved inside — a genuinely satisfying tradition.
Round 2: Christmas Films & TV
Here's where it gets competitive fast. Everyone has strong opinions about Christmas films and TV, and the generational divide in this round is real — younger players might struggle with some of the classic references while older ones blank on more recent releases. The trick is that some of the "obvious" answers are actually wrong, which makes this round a brilliant leveller.
11. In the 1990 film Home Alone, what is the name of the fictional gangster film that Kevin McCallister watches on TV?
✓ Angels with Filthy Souls
💡 The film Kevin watches is completely fictional — it was created specifically for Home Alone and doesn't actually exist as a real movie.
12. Which actor plays the Ghost of Christmas Present in the 1988 film Scrooged?
✓ Carol Kane
💡 Carol Kane's Ghost of Christmas Present is notably violent in the film, repeatedly hitting Bill Murray's character throughout their scenes together.
13. In the classic Christmas TV special, what is the name of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's elf friend who wants to be a dentist?
✓ Hermey
💡 Hermey the misfit elf from the 1964 Rankin/Bass special has become one of the most beloved supporting characters in Christmas TV history.
14. Which British sitcom features the Christmas special "Goodwill to All Men", widely regarded as one of the greatest Christmas TV episodes ever made?
✓ Only Fools and Horses
💡 The 1996 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special drew over 24 million viewers — one of the highest-rated TV moments in British history.
15. In the film Elf (2003), what four food groups does Buddy the Elf say elves stick to?
✓ Candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup
💡 Will Ferrell reportedly ate real cotton balls during filming of one scene and genuinely consumed a large amount of sugary food throughout the shoot.
16. Which 1946 Christmas film features a character called George Bailey and the angel Clarence?
✓ It's a Wonderful Life
💡 It's a Wonderful Life was actually considered a box office disappointment on release — it only became a beloved classic decades later via TV reruns.
17. True or false: Die Hard is officially classified as a Christmas film by its director John McTiernan?
✓ False — McTiernan has said it is not a Christmas film, though the debate rages on every December
💡 The Die Hard Christmas debate has become such a cultural phenomenon that a 2018 ad campaign briefly "declared" it a Christmas movie then retracted it.
18. In the Doctor Who Christmas special "A Christmas Carol" (2010), which actor played the Scrooge-like character Kazran Sardick?
✓ Michael Gambon
💡 Michael Gambon, best known as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, gave a widely praised performance in one of the most popular Doctor Who specials.
19. Name the 2003 romantic comedy film set at Christmas that features ten separate love stories set in London, directed by Richard Curtis.
✓ Love Actually
💡 Love Actually was filmed across London over several months in 2003 and now draws film tourists to the locations every Christmas season.
20. In which fictional town is the animated Christmas special The Snowman (1982) set?
✓ No specific town is named — it is set in a generic English countryside village near Brighton (the boy visits the North Pole)
💡 The Snowman has no dialogue at all — the entire story is told through animation and music, making it unusual even among Christmas specials.
Round 3: Christmas Songs
Music rounds are always the noisiest part of a Christmas quiz, and this one is no exception. What makes Christmas songs particularly fun quiz material is that people know the words perfectly and still get the facts completely wrong — things like who originally recorded a classic, or what year a beloved song came out. I'll be honest, I got a couple of these wrong myself when I was double-checking them.
21. "Jingle Bells" was originally written for which American holiday, not Christmas?
✓ Thanksgiving
💡 Written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857, "Jingle Bells" was titled "The One Horse Open Sleigh" and described a Thanksgiving sleigh race.
22. Which artist recorded the original version of "Last Christmas" in 1984?
✓ Wham!
💡 "Last Christmas" famously never reached number one in the UK on its original release, kept off the top spot by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
23. How many gifts are given in total across all twelve days in "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?
✓ 184
💡 When you add up cumulative gifts per day — one on day one, three on day two, and so on — the total reaches a logistically baffling 184 presents.
24. Which country did the song "O Christmas Tree" (O Tannenbaum) originate from?
✓ Germany
💡 "O Tannenbaum" dates from 1824, written by Ernst Anschütz. The fir tree in the song is praised for staying green throughout the harsh winter.
25. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in which year?
✓ 1994
💡 Despite its enormous popularity, the song didn't reach number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 until 25 years after its release, in 2019.
26. Who sang the original version of "Fairytale of New York", recorded with Kirsty MacColl in 1987?
✓ The Pogues (featuring Kirsty MacColl)
💡 Shane MacGowan originally struggled to finish the song. The band had to make a bet with producer Elvis Costello to get it completed in time.
27. In "Good King Wenceslas", what feast day does the carol take place on?
✓ The Feast of Stephen (26th December, also known as Boxing Day)
💡 The real Wenceslas was a 10th-century Bohemian duke, later canonised as a saint. He was murdered by his own brother in 935 AD.
28. Which singer had a UK Christmas number one in 2021 with "Merry Christmas"?
✓ Ed Sheeran and Elton John
💡 The collaboration was described by Ed Sheeran as a lifelong dream — he's been a fan of Elton John since childhood and the two are close friends.
29. "White Christmas", one of the best-selling singles of all time, was sung by which artist in the 1942 film Holiday Inn?
✓ Bing Crosby
💡 Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" is estimated to have sold over 50 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles in history.
30. Name the charitable supergroup that recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 to raise funds for the Ethiopian famine.
✓ Band Aid
💡 Band Aid was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and recorded in a single day. It raised over £8 million in its first year alone.
Round 4: Christmas History
This is the round where the history buffs shine and everyone else starts muttering that it's "unfair" — which means it's working perfectly. Christmas history stretches back centuries and crosses dozens of cultures, and there are some genuinely surprising facts buried in here that most people simply don't know. I particularly love questions that reframe something familiar in a completely new light.
31. In which century was Christmas Day officially declared a public holiday in England?
✓ The 19th century (1871, under the Bank Holidays Act)
💡 Before the Bank Holidays Act, Christmas was not a statutory public holiday in England — workers had no guaranteed day off on 25th December.
32. Who sent the first commercial Christmas card in Britain, and in which decade?
✓ Sir Henry Cole, in the 1840s (1843)
💡 Cole commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to design the card. About 1,000 cards were printed and sold for one shilling each.
33. In which year did Christmas celebrations become illegal in England under Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan Parliament?
✓ 1647
💡 The ban lasted until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. During those years, soldiers could legally confiscate food being cooked for Christmas dinner.
34. Which Roman festival, celebrated in late December and associated with feasting and role reversals, is often cited as a precursor to Christmas?
✓ Saturnalia
💡 During Saturnalia, social norms were temporarily overturned — slaves were served meals by their masters, a genuinely radical act in Roman society.
35. The modern image of Santa Claus as a rotund, red-suited figure was popularised by which soft drinks company in the 20th century?
✓ Coca-Cola
💡 Coca-Cola's artist Haddon Sundblom painted Santa in the company's red from 1931. However, red-suited Santas existed in images before this campaign.
36. True or false: Christmas was not celebrated on 25th December by early Christians — the date was chosen later to align with existing pagan festivals.
✓ True
💡 The Bible gives no specific date for Jesus's birth. The 25th December date was formalised in the 4th century, likely to absorb existing winter solstice festivals.
37. Which British monarch is credited with helping to revive and popularise the Christmas tree tradition in Britain after being depicted with one in the Illustrated London News in 1848?
✓ Queen Victoria (depicted with Prince Albert)
💡 Prince Albert, who was German, introduced the Christmas tree tradition to the British royal family. Victoria's popularisation of it spread the custom rapidly across Britain.
38. The historical figure Saint Nicholas, who inspired the Santa Claus legend, was a bishop from which modern-day country?
✓ Turkey (he was Bishop of Myra, in what is now southern Turkey)
💡 Saint Nicholas was known for secret gift-giving, including reportedly throwing bags of gold through the windows of homes to help poor families.
39. In which year did King George V deliver the first Royal Christmas broadcast on BBC Radio?
✓ 1932
💡 The speech was written by Rudyard Kipling and broadcast to the British Empire. It was heard by an estimated 20 million people worldwide.
40. Which country gifted the large Christmas tree that stands in Trafalgar Square in London every year, and why?
✓ Norway — as a thank you for Britain's support during the Second World War
💡 The Trafalgar Square tree has been given by Norway every year since 1947. It is typically a Norway spruce between 20 and 25 metres tall.
Round 5: Christmas Food & Drink
Save this one for after the main course — it hits differently on a full stomach. Food and drink is one of those rounds that looks easy on paper but has a nasty habit of generating heated table debates, particularly around mince pies, sprouts, and the correct way to make mulled wine. There are a few questions in here that will genuinely divide a room, and I mean that as a compliment.
41. What is the main alcoholic ingredient in a traditional eggnog?
✓ Traditionally bourbon, rum, or brandy (any of these is acceptable)
💡 Eggnog dates back to early medieval Britain, where a warm ale-based drink called "posset" mixed with eggs and figs was consumed in winter.
42. What were mince pies originally filled with, before they became the sweet pastries we know today?
✓ Actual minced meat (usually mutton or beef, mixed with dried fruit and spices)
💡 The transition from meat to sweet mincemeat happened gradually over centuries. The dried fruit and spices remained, but the meat was eventually dropped.
43. Which spice is the key flavouring in a traditional mulled wine — ground and used in stick form?
✓ Cinnamon
💡 Mulled wine dates back to ancient Rome, where spiced wine was heated and drunk to ward off the cold during winter months.
44. In which country did the tradition of eating turkey as a Christmas dinner become popular before spreading to the UK?
✓ The United States
💡 Before turkey became dominant, British Christmas dinners traditionally featured goose. Turkey only overtook goose in popularity in Britain in the 20th century.
45. What is Stollen, the traditional Christmas bread eaten in Germany at Christmas?
✓ A dense, fruit-filled bread loaf dusted with icing sugar, often containing marzipan
💡 Stollen dates back to 15th-century Germany. Dresden Stollen is so famous it has protected geographic status — only Stollen made in Dresden can use that name.
46. True or false: Brussels sprouts are actually named after the city of Brussels in Belgium, where they were cultivated on a large scale from the 13th century.
✓ True
💡 Brussels sprouts were grown in Belgium from around the 13th century, though the precise origin of the name is disputed by some food historians.
47. Which sweet treat, shaped like a walking stick or letter J, is most commonly associated with hanging on a Christmas tree?
✓ A candy cane
💡 The hooked shape of the candy cane is often said to represent a shepherd's crook, though the true origin of the design is not definitively known.
48. What is the name of the rich, spiced, fortified wine drink traditionally associated with Christmas in Scandinavia?
✓ Glögg
💡 Scandinavian glögg is typically made with red wine, vodka or brandy, and spices, then served with raisins and blanched almonds in the cup.
49. Which dried fruit is traditionally used to decorate the top of a classic Christmas cake in the UK?
✓ Glacé cherries (alongside nuts such as almonds and walnuts)
💡 The tradition of decorating Christmas cake with marzipan and royal icing became widespread in Britain during the Victorian era.
50. Name the warm drink made from cider, spices, and baked apples that was traditionally drunk at Christmas and New Year wassailing celebrations in England.
✓ Wassail
💡 Wassailing involved going door-to-door singing and offering the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts — a direct ancestor of modern carol singing.
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What strikes me most about researching a Christmas quiz is how much of what we consider "ancient tradition" is actually quite recent — Victorian, or even 20th century, invention. The red-suited Santa, the Christmas tree in the living room, turkey on the table, the Royal broadcast on the radio: all of it is younger than you'd expect. Christmas as we know it was largely constructed in the last 200 years, which I find oddly comforting rather than deflating. It means every generation has contributed something to it. Maybe the Christmas quiz is our generation's contribution. I'd like to think so, anyway.
If you spot an error anywhere in these questions — and I genuinely welcome that, because accuracy matters more than anything on this site — please do drop me a line at hello@simplyquizzes.com. Similarly, if you've got a topic suggestion for a future quiz post, I'd love to hear it. There are plenty more quiz question sets on the blog covering everything from geography to pop culture to sport, so have a browse when you've recovered from the festive season.