Customs & World Traditions

31 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which thick Mexican cocoa completes posada tamale feasts?
- A. Champurrado
- B. Café de olla
- C. Agua de jamaica
- D. Horchata
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Champurrado
Did you know? Champurrado and tamales close the posada night.
2.Which country celebrates nine dawn masses called "Simbang Gabi"?
- A. Spain
- B. The Philippines
- C. Mexico
- D. Portugal
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The Philippines
Did you know? Simbang Gabi runs nine dawn masses before Christmas.
3.Which Brazilian mountain town stages the famous "Natal Luz" festival?
- A. Canela
- B. Petrópolis
- C. Gramado
- D. Campos do Jordão
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Gramado
Did you know? Gramado's Natal Luz lights up Rio Grande do Sul from November.
4.Which cheeky figurine hides in Catalan nativity scenes?
- A. The caganer
- B. The ox and mule
- C. The falling star
- D. The little shepherd
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The caganer
Did you know? The caganer hides among the Bethlehem figures.
5.Which Finnish city declares the "Christmas Peace" every Christmas Eve?
- A. Helsinki
- B. Espoo
- C. Turku
- D. Rovaniemi
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Turku
Did you know? Turku's Christmas Peace declaration dates to the 1320s.
6.Which hot spiced drink warms Brazilian June-festival bonfires?
- A. Cachaça pura
- B. Quentão
- C. Café preto
- D. Chimarrão
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Quentão
Did you know? Quentão, spiked with ginger and cachaça, rules the quermesses.
7.Who is credited with creating the first printed Advent calendar?
- A. Henry Cole
- B. Gerhard Lang
- C. Louis Prang
- D. William Morris
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Gerhard Lang
Did you know? Gerhard Lang printed the first commercial Advent calendar in Munich in the early 1900s.
8.Which Venezuelan-rooted music fills Trinidad's Christmas season?
- A. Calypso
- B. Parang
- C. Soca
- D. Chutney
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Parang
Did you know? Parang troupes sing their way house to house.
9.Which Alaska town's post office offers a famous Santa-themed postmark each December?
- A. Anchorage
- B. North Pole
- C. Juneau
- D. Fairbanks
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North Pole
Did you know? North Pole, Alaska stamps holiday mail with its Christmas postmark.
10.Which state was the last in the US to make Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907?
- A. New Mexico
- B. Arizona
- C. Utah
- D. Oklahoma
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Oklahoma
Did you know? Oklahoma was the final US state to declare Christmas a holiday.
11.Which grain sprouts in Croatian homes as the table's centerpiece each December 13?
- A. Wheat
- B. Barley
- C. Rye
- D. Oats
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Wheat
Did you know? Croatian Christmas wheat sprouts green for the manger.
12.Which Norwegian rib dish anchors Christmas Eve dinner?
- A. Lefse
- B. Pinnekjøtt
- C. Smalahove
- D. Lutefisk
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Pinnekjøtt
Did you know? Pinnekjøtt, cured lamb ribs, steams over birch branches.
13.Which Disney short has opened Scandinavian Christmas Eve TV since 1959?
- A. Cinderella
- B. Fantasia
- C. From All of Us to All of You
- D. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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From All of Us to All of You
Did you know? Sweden and Denmark still tune in to the Disney Christmas special.
14.Which medieval churchboy tradition let a choirboy rule on St. Nicholas Day?
- A. The Abbot of Unreason
- B. The Lord of Misrule
- C. The Mock Mayor
- D. The Boy Bishop
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The Boy Bishop
Did you know? Boy Bishops presided on December 6 in medieval Europe.
15.Which Dresden market, running since 1434, is Germany's oldest Christmas market?
- A. The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt
- B. The Striezelmarkt
- C. The Vienna Christkindlmarkt
- D. The Cologne Market
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The Striezelmarkt
Did you know? Dresden's Striezelmarkt debuted in 1434.
16.Which Central American country celebrates "La Gritería" on December 7?
- A. Honduras
- B. Costa Rica
- C. Nicaragua
- D. Panama
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Nicaragua
Did you know? Nicaragua's Purísima celebrations shout "Who causes so much joy?"
17.Which December 7 candle festival opens Colombia's Christmas?
- A. Noche de los Rábanos
- B. La Quema del Diablo
- C. Las Posadas
- D. Día de las Velitas
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Día de las Velitas
Did you know? Colombia lights candles and lanterns for Día de las Velitas.
18.Which boat-shaped decoration is a Greek Christmas custom?
- A. The felucca
- B. The karavaki
- C. The jangada
- D. The gondola
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The karavaki
Did you know? Greek islands once lit the karavaki to honor seafarers.
19.Which mischievous goblins trouble Greek households during the Twelve Days?
- A. The tengu
- B. The kallikantzaroi
- C. The mari lwyd
- D. The domovoi
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The kallikantzaroi
Did you know? Kallikantzaroi stir trouble from below the earth.
20.Which custom blesses apple orchards with song and cider on Twelfth Night?
- A. Soul caking
- B. Apple-tree wassailing
- C. Hobby horsing
- D. Mumming
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Apple-tree wassailing
Did you know? English wassailers toast the apple trees each January.
21.In which Baltic country does the family sauna open Christmas Eve?
- A. Estonia
- B. Lithuania
- C. Poland
- D. Latvia
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Estonia
Did you know? The Estonian Christmas Eve sauna is a quiet family ritual.
22.Which rice cake, baked in banana leaves, fills Filipino dawn-mass stalls?
- A. Mochi
- B. Mooncake
- C. Bibingka
- D. Pandan cake
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Bibingka
Did you know? Bibingka smells through Simbang Gabi mornings.
23.Mince pies were originally shaped how?
- A. Round
- B. Star-shaped
- C. Rectangular, like a manger
- D. Triangular
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Rectangular, like a manger
Did you know? Early mince pies echoed the shape of Christ's manger.
24.Which Central American capital burns the devil on December 7?
- A. Tegucigalpa
- B. Guatemala City
- C. San Salvador
- D. Manágua
Show answer
Guatemala City
Did you know? Guatemala's La Quema del Diablo torches devil effigies.
25.Which Welsh midwinter custom features a decorated horse skull?
- A. The Mari Lwyd
- B. Hunt the Wren
- C. The Soul Caking
- D. The Padstow 'Obby 'Oss
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The Mari Lwyd
Did you know? The Mari Lwyd horse skull knocks door to door with rhymes.
26.Which Czech figure, the Baby Jesus, delivers Christmas gifts?
- A. Sinterklaas
- B. Ježíšek
- C. Święty Mikołaj
- D. Mikulás
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Ježíšek
Did you know? Czech children await Ježíšek, not Santa.
27.What do Chinese young people gift on Christmas Eve, playing on the word "píngguǒ"?
- A. Peaches
- B. Pears
- C. Oranges
- D. Apples
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Apples
Did you know? "Píngguǒ" (apple) echoes Christmas Eve's "peaceful night".
28.Which Hungarian wrapped candy hangs on Christmas trees?
- A. Kürtőskalács
- B. Gingerhearts
- C. Bejgli
- D. Szaloncukor
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Szaloncukor
Did you know? Szaloncukor hangs in shining wrappers on Hungarian trees.
29.Which saffron buns are baked for Lucia Day in Sweden?
- A. Semlor
- B. Lussekatter
- C. Pepparkakor
- D. Kanelbullar
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Lussekatter
Did you know? Lussekatter are the saffron buns of Lucia.
30.Which ogress of Icelandic folklore mothered the thirteen Yule Lads?
- A. Grýla
- B. Freyja
- C. Hel
- D. Angrboda
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Grýla
Did you know? Grýla, the troll ogress, mothered the thirteen lads.
31.Which Philippine city hosts the Giant Lantern Festival?
- A. Davao
- B. Cebu City
- C. Manila
- D. San Fernando
Show answer
San Fernando
Did you know? San Fernando's giant lanterns compete each December.

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