History/Literature
He is a fictional Christmas figure, but in reality he was a bishop of Myra (present-day Turkey). Who was he?
Bonus question - which century did he serve as a bishop of Myra in? (+/- 3 centuries)
Saint Nicholas; 4th century
Can you name the missing Santa's reindeer from the list? He's named after the son of Venus and Mars
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, _ _ _ _ _, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph
Cupid
What food item, often associated with Christmas, unites Tula in Russia, Torun in Poland and Pardubice in the Czech Republic?
gingerbread
This song made popular by Nat King Cole is known as "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire", because nobody would remember its very banal name.
The Christmas song
A film about a train that carries kids very far North.
Bonus 100 points - give the year of the release (+/- 4 years)
Polar Express
2004
Christmas was first officially celebrated in Rome on December 25th in ______________ (which year? +/-25 years)
336
Which popular Christmas decoration was originally made from extruded strands of silver? Before the 19th century, it was used for decorating sculptures rather than Christmas trees.
Tinsel
"Candola" in Chile, "forralt bor" in Hungary, "karstvins" in Latvia, "izvar" in Romania are all local names of ...
Mulled wine
This Christmas standard reached Christmas N1 in the UK for the first time in 2023, 39 years after its original release. Andrew Ridgeley, the surviving member of the duo performing the song, says 'George (his partner) would be beside himself'.
Bonus 100 points for the name of the duo.
Last Christmas; Wham
This film stars Bing Crosby, where he rerecords his hit of the same name from 1942, which eventually became the most successful record of all time.
Bonus 100 points - year of release (+/-6 years)
White Christmas, 1954
Which British queen, who ruled for 64 years, helped popularize the German custom of bringing a tree inside the house at Christmas?
Bonus 200 points - name her husband, a consort Prince, who allegedly was even a bigger enthusiast of the tradition? .
Victoria; Albert
Germany 49%; France 11%, Netherlands 8%; United Kingdom6%;Poland 6%; Sweden 4%; Czechia 4%; Switzerland3%; Austria3%; Norway 2%; Romania 2%; Belgium 2%; Other 4%; - this is the list of shares of Christmas tree exports from __________in 2023, by country.
Name the country
Denmark
This barley mushroom casserole is cooked in some Czech families for Christmas. It shares a name with the Czech transcription of an island in the Caribbean.
Kuba
Only one song by the same artist has managed to reach the UK Christmas number one twice, in 1975 and 1991. Later, in December 2018, it became the most streamed song from the 20th century.
Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody
This Yuletide fairy tale features characters like Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley as the first ghost and three more ghosts?
Bonus 100 points - name the author
Bonus 100 points - what grammar (among others) terms are the three ghosts of?
A Christmas Carol; Charles Dickens; past, present and future
Only two of the officially recognised four actually tell the Christmas story. What are they?
Bonus question 200 points - name the two.
Gospels; Matthew and Luke
What hot thing do kids in Sweden leave for Tomte, (The Gnome), who brings them gifts?
A cup of coffee
A folkloric story of the origin of it says that in 1670, in Cologne, Germany, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral asked to make a Christmas snack which would help children remember the shepherds who visited the infant Jesus. What is it?
Candy cane
This Christmas song was released in 2017 and the singer, who's known for her bilingualism and having successful careers in two neighbouring countries, is asking for a special Christmas in wrapping paper. Give the name of the singer and the name of the song, 200 points each.
Ewa Farna
Vánoce na míru.
The story is actually named after a toy soldier which becomes unusually active on Christmas Eve.
Bonus point + 100; Give the surname of the author of the original story, which was adapted in different forms many times in the last almost 200 years.
The Nutcracker; Hoffman
This is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as an entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
_____________Christmas trees were first created in Germany in the 1880s or 1890s and are regarded as one of the first types of artificial Christmas trees. These first artificial trees were, in part, a response to growing environmental concerns in the late 19th century concerning deforestation associated with the harvest of Christmas trees in Germany. What were they made of?
Goose feathers
Before turkey has become a staple Christmas dish in the UK and the USA, another kind of meat was very popular in this season. Which one?
Bonus 200 points – what purpose did ____________ (name of the kind of meat) clubs (often established in local pubs) serve?
Goose; save money for the goose.
Only one song, composed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and performed by a group of (mainly) different pop-stars in each of the years given below, managed to become the N1 Christmas single three times in the UK - in 1984, 1989 and 2004.
Bonus 200 points – what was the reason for recording the first version of the song?
Do They Know It's Christmas;
Live Aid
Buddy, raised by Santa's helpers, learns about his origins and heads to New York City to meet his biological father.
•Bonus question + 100 points: the year of release (+/- 4 years)
Elf;
2003