New Year Around the World
In which country do people from more rural areas spend the New Year night ice fishing?
In Canada, particularly in Quebec.
What is this tune? (100) What holiday was it originally written for (100) and what type of an establishment was it composed in? (100) How does this song relate to outer space? (100)
Jingle Bells was originally written as a Thanksgiving drinking songs in a tavern. It is also the first song played in outer space.
Who wrote the music for the Nutcracker ballet?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Norway won the most medals with a total of 37 and it also won the most gold medals with a total of 16.
Who won the World Cup? (100) What was the final score? (100)
Where are Soba noodles eaten to celebrate the new year? (200) What do they symbolize? (200)
Soba noodles are eaten in Japan because they are firm yet easy to bite, so eating them symbolizes a literal break away from the old year.
What is this tune? (200) What is it's country of origin (200) and what century was it written in? (200)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas was one of the oldest secular Christmas songs written in England in the 16th century.
Where (200) and in what year (200) was the first Nutcracker performed?
It Premiered in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892.
In the first Winter Olympics women were only allowed to compete in which sport? (200) What is the second winter sport that women were allowed to compete in? (200)
Figure skating was the first sport and skiing was the second that women were allowed to participate in.
What unique event took place at the 2022 Oscar Awards Ceremony and why?
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock because Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith's wife (Jada) being bald.
In which country do people bang bread against the walls for New Year to ward off evil sprits?
Ireland.
What is this tune? (300) It's two writers wrote it instead of going where? (300) What was the weather like the day the song was written? (300)
Let it snow is a song that was written on the hottest day of the year in Hollywood, California instead of going to the beach.
How many choreographers worked on The Nutcracker (300) and what were their names? (150 each)
Marius Petipa was the choreographer who first commissioned the music for the ballet, but Lev Ivanov took his place after Petipa got sick.
When was the first Winter Olympics held? (300) Which country were they held in? (300)
1924 in Chamonix, France.
Which artist's tour ticket sales crashed Ticketmaster in 2022? (300) What was the name of the tour? (300)
In which country do some individuals from more rural areas take three potatoes on December 31 where one is pealed, one is half pealed and one is not pealed and place them under their bed? (400) What does this tradition predict about the New Year? (400)
In Colombia this tradition predicts the financial success in the coming year where picking the fully pealed potato the next morning represents a year of going broke, a half pealed potato represents a so-so financial year with some struggles and a non pealed potato represents prosperity.
What are these three tunes (400 each) and what (other than being holiday songs) unites them (400) and what is unique about this unifying feature? (400)
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, and Holly Jolly Christmas are all Christmas songs written by the same Jewish songwriter, Johnny Marks.
The Nutcracker originates from which author's story called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King? (400) Which famous French author's more lighthearted adaptation of this story is the Nutcracker actually based on? (400)
E.T.A. Hoffman and Alexandre Dumas.
In the history of the Winter Olympics, which two (200 x 2) types of animals were involved in demonstration events: sports played for their promotion, rather than for medals.
Dog-sledding was in the 1932 Winter Olympics, while skijoring – an event that where athletes are towed on skis behind riderless horses - was in the 1928 Olympics.
Which new Netflix original show is the new record holder for the most hours viewed in a week for an English-language TV series, beating Stranger Things Season 4?
Wednesday.
In which country do people jump off the highest point in the room, typically a couch or a chair to literally jump into the new year?
Denmark.
What is this tune? (500) What is its country of origin? (500) and what famous Christmas movie was it featured in? (500)
Carol of the Bells was originally written as a Ukrainian folk song about a bird and titled Shchedryk. The English lyrics were written after the Ukranian version was performed in Carnegie Hall in 1922. This song appears in Home Alone.
Which newly invented musical instrument was smuggled in from Paris to create the twinkling sound in The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Танец Феи Драже)?
The celesta.
The first Winter Olympics had 16 events, but how many events did the most recent Beijing Winter Olympics have? (500) Which of these events is an only-male event? (500)
109 events were in the Beijing Winter Olympics. Nordic Combined is the only all-male winter sport which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing.
How long did Queen Elizabeth rule before she passed away in 2022? (500) Who is the only Monarch to rule longer than her? (500)
70 years and 214 days (acceptable answers between 70 and 75 years). King Louis XIV of France is the longest reigning monarch with reign of 72 years and 110 days.