Country
Food
Tradition
Decoration
A Cat in a Sack
100
Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is the most celebratory festival in ____________. People light a circle of lamps in honor of the goddess of prosperity.
India
100
What is the name of the traditional Japanese dessert which is a chewy rice cake, which takes a lot of time and effort to prepare?
Mochi
100
La Befana is celebrated in Italy. According to folklore, the Befana visits all the children to fill the socks with candy if they are good, or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. The name La Befana derives from the word “ ___________ ”.
1.beef
2. bishop
3. epithet
4. epifania
Epifania
100
The Yule Goat has been a Christmas symbol dating back to ancient pagan festivals in this country. However, in 1966, the tradition got a whole new life after someone came up with the idea to make a giant straw goat, now referred to as the Gävle Goat. Name the country.
Sweden
100
Most countries have one Santa Claus, but Icelanders have about 12 extra, known as 13 trolls. What are they called?
Yule lads or Jólasveinar
200
You can see a floating Christmas tree in the ocean, located next to the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And what is the capital of Brazil?
Brasilia
200
- smoked salmon and oysters with bran bread and butter
- foiegras (goose or duck liverpate)
- goose
- capon or turkey stuffed with chestnuts
- servings of vegetables such as green beans cooked with garlic and butter and provincial herbs sautéed potatoe
Which country does this list of traditional Christmas food belong to?
France
200
The Twelve Grapes is a _______________ tradition that consists of eating a grape with each of the twelve clock bell strikes at midnight of December 31 to welcome the New Year. Name the country.
Spain/Spanish
200
The New Christmas tree in this country is the Pohutukawa, a coastal species that blooms a bright-red color in December, providing shade during the sunny days as the people sing carols in both English and Maori.
New Zealand
200
Listen to the melody and name the piece of music.
Holy Night, the most popular Christmas carol in Britain.
300
On New Year’s Eve people in this Scandinavian country traditionally throw unused plates that have been saved up during the year at the front doors of family and friends for good luck. Name the country.
Denmark
300
Name the dessert:
Christmas log
300
The people in this country believe that if they walk around the house with suitcases on New Year’s Eve, it will bring them a lot of travel year.
Mexico
300
Which country do these Christmas decorations belong to?
Greece
300
Why do people in Norway hide their mops and brooms at Christmas?
In Norway, Christmas means hiding your mops and brooms – not because people don’t want to clean, but because Norwegians are a little superstitious and want to prevent evil spirits, who return to Earth that night, from stealing the brooms and going on joyrides in the Christmas sky.
400
Since the late 19th century, the National Lottery in this country has been giving out the biggest amount of money of the year: “El Gordo” or “The Fat One.” It has become a huge social event, usually on December 22, and people get together with dozens of lottery tickets each, in high hopes of being one of the lucky winners. Name the country.
Spain
400
Tom Smith invented these around 1846. He was inspired by the French habit of wrapping sugared almonds in twists of paper as food gifts.
Christmas Crackers
400
This is a Provençal French Christmas tradition but worth mentioning as it sounds so ‘challenging’ – can you imagine having 13 desserts after the main (big) Christmas feast? What do they symbolise?
In France they are important as they symbolise Christ and the 12 apostles at the Last Supper.
400
This decoration should be your favorite Christmas decoration because they mean that you get an extra present: in many countries, an ornament in the shape of this vegetable is hidden somewhere in the Christmas tree and the person who finds it, will get an extra present or just a whole lot of good fortune. Name the ornament.
Christmas pickle
400
Did you know that Santa actually has an address? It goes:
North Pole, (seasonal zip code), Canada
Can you guess the zip code?
HOH OHO
500
This country has historically made a much bigger deal of celebrating Hogmanay (the last day of the year, New Year’s Eve) than Christmas. What country is it?
Scotland
500
A dry cake shaped like a loaf of bread filled with marzipan and raisins and covered with powdered sugar. What country does it come from?
Christstollen or Weihnachtsstollen comes from Germany.
500
One of the most famous Christmas Eve traditions in this country is what’s known as Jólabókaflód, or “Christmas book flood”. Most people there give and receive books on Christmas Eve, which they then spend the rest of the evening reading. Other people go to mass in the evening of Christmas Eve, to meet their neighbours and friends and celebrate the religious festival. Name the country.
Iceland
500
One of their Christmas traditions in the Philippine is to hang parols, a star-shaped lantern in the streets. This star represents the star that guided the Wise Men. What is the lantern usually made of?
Bamboo and coloured paper
500
According to legend, the first person to decorate a Christmas tree was Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546).
What inspired him to bring home a branch of a fir tree and decorate it with candles for his children?
He was moved by the beauty of stars shining between branches of a fir tree.
