World Festivals

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

1.Which festival brings environmental events every April 22?
- A. La Tomatina
- B. St. Patrick's Day
- C. the Notting Hill Carnival
- D. Earth Day
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Earth Day
Did you know? Earth Day began in 1970.
2.Which language did English borrow the word "piano" from?
- A. Italian
- B. German
- C. Spanish
- D. Portuguese
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Italian
Did you know? "Piano" is short for "pianoforte" in Italian.
3.Which festival dyes rivers green in Chicago and parades worldwide?
- A. the Running of the Bulls
- B. St. Patrick's Day
- C. Earth Day
- D. the Glastonbury Festival
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St. Patrick's Day
Did you know? Chicago dyes its river green each March 17.
4.Which language gave English the word "kindergarten"?
- A. German
- B. Dutch
- C. French
- D. Danish
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German
Did you know? It means "children's garden" in German.
5.Which festival arrives with red envelopes and family feasts?
- A. the Lantern Festival
- B. Songkran
- C. the Running of the Bulls
- D. Chinese New Year
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Chinese New Year
Did you know? Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar.
6.Which word comes from Japanese for "empty orchestra"?
- A. karaoke
- B. judo
- C. origami
- D. tycoon
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karaoke
Did you know? Karaoke blends "kara" (empty) and "oke" (orchestra).
7.Which festival hides faces behind ornate masks?
- A. the Carnival of Venice
- B. Songkran
- C. Holi
- D. the Running of the Bulls
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the Carnival of Venice
Did you know? Venetian masks once let classes mingle.
8.Which festival shares mooncakes under the full moon?
- A. the Lantern Festival
- B. Songkran
- C. the Day of the Dead
- D. the Mid-Autumn Festival
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the Mid-Autumn Festival
Did you know? The Mid-Autumn Festival is a family reunion day in China.
9.Which festival plants trees on a set day in many countries?
- A. St. Patrick's Day
- B. the Day of the Dead
- C. the Notting Hill Carnival
- D. Arbor Day
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Arbor Day
Did you know? The first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska in 1872.
10.Which festival honors ancestors with altars and marigolds in Mexico?
- A. the Notting Hill Carnival
- B. the Harbin Ice Festival
- C. the Day of the Dead
- D. the Lantern Festival
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the Day of the Dead
Did you know? The Day of the Dead falls on November 1 and 2.
11.Which festival is Thailand's water-fight new year in April?
- A. the Monkey Buffet Festival
- B. Songkran
- C. St. Patrick's Day
- D. Holi
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Songkran
Did you know? Songkran soaks whole city streets.
12.Which festival fills the streets before Lent in Rio and beyond?
- A. Carnival
- B. Midsummer
- C. Arbor Day
- D. La Tomatina
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Carnival
Did you know? Rio's Carnival is often called the world's biggest party.
13.Which festival marks the 1789 storming of the Paris fortress?
- A. Bastille Day
- B. the Naadam festival
- C. the Lantern Festival
- D. Holi
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Bastille Day
Did you know? Bastille Day is France's national holiday on July 14.
14.Which festival marks the last day before Lent in New Orleans?
- A. Mardi Gras
- B. the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
- C. the Harbin Ice Festival
- D. La Tomatina
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Mardi Gras
Did you know? "Mardi Gras" is French for "Fat Tuesday".
15.Which festival is the festival where crowds throw colored powders?
- A. Carnival
- B. the Glastonbury Festival
- C. Holi
- D. the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
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Holi
Did you know? Holi celebrates the arrival of spring.
16.Which festival is the festival of lights celebrated across India?
- A. St. Patrick's Day
- B. Songkran
- C. Bastille Day
- D. Diwali
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Diwali
Did you know? Diwali lamps light homes and streets.
17.Which festival stages rock acts on a dairy farm in England?
- A. Bastille Day
- B. the Carnival of Venice
- C. the Lantern Festival
- D. the Glastonbury Festival
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the Glastonbury Festival
Did you know? Glastonbury draws well over 100,000 campers.
18.Which English word traces back to Arabic "al-kuhl"?
- A. alcohol
- B. tea
- C. robot
- D. typhoon
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alcohol
Did you know? Many English words beginning "al-" came through Arabic.
19.Which festival is the world's largest arts festival?
- A. the Notting Hill Carnival
- B. the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
- C. Bastille Day
- D. the Edinburgh Fringe
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the Edinburgh Fringe
Did you know? The Fringe takes over Edinburgh every August.
20.Which English word comes from the Hindi word for forest?
- A. junior
- B. jungle
- C. juggler
- D. juggle
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jungle
Did you know? "Jungle" entered English from Hindi and Urdu.
21.Which festival lights bonfires across Britain on November 5?
- A. Up Helly Aa
- B. Midsummer
- C. Loy Krathong
- D. Guy Fawkes Night
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Guy Fawkes Night
Did you know? Guy Fawkes Night remembers a failed 1605 plot.
22.Which Japanese custom celebrates spring with cherry blossom viewing?
- A. setsubun
- B. shichi-go-san
- C. hanami
- D. tanabata
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hanami
Did you know? Hanami parties gather under blooming sakura trees.
23.Which festival turns a Spanish town into a tomato fight?
- A. Holi
- B. La Tomatina
- C. Bastille Day
- D. May Day
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La Tomatina
Did you know? La Tomatina is held in Buñol.
24.Which language gave us "orangutan," meaning "person of the forest"?
- A. Malay
- B. Tagalog
- C. Thai
- D. Javanese
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Malay
Did you know? The ape's name is a Malay phrase.
25.Which festival masses hundreds of hot-air balloons in New Mexico?
- A. the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
- B. the Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill
- C. the Qixi Festival
- D. the Mid-Autumn Festival
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the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
Did you know? The Balloon Fiesta fills Albuquerque each October.
26.Which festival parades through west London each August?
- A. Mardi Gras
- B. Earth Day
- C. the Notting Hill Carnival
- D. Guy Fawkes Night
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the Notting Hill Carnival
Did you know? Notting Hill Carnival celebrates Caribbean culture.
27.Which festival is China's festival of the cowherd and the weaver girl?
- A. Holi
- B. the Harbin Ice Festival
- C. the Qixi Festival
- D. the Notting Hill Carnival
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the Qixi Festival
Did you know? Qixi falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
28.Which festival closes Chinese New Year with glowing lights?
- A. the Fête des Lumières
- B. the Lantern Festival
- C. May Day
- D. Arbor Day
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the Lantern Festival
Did you know? The Lantern Festival falls on the first full moon of the lunar year.
29.Which festival chases runners through Pamplona's streets?
- A. the Running of the Bulls
- B. Guy Fawkes Night
- C. Earth Day
- D. the Mid-Autumn Festival
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the Running of the Bulls
Did you know? The festival of San Fermín lasts nine days in July.
30.Which festival torches a replica viking ship in Scotland's Shetland islands?
- A. Loy Krathong
- B. Up Helly Aa
- C. the Mid-Autumn Festival
- D. the Glastonbury Festival
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Up Helly Aa
Did you know? Up Helly Aa is held in Lerwick each January.
31.Which festival builds glowing ice palaces in China's northeast?
- A. Children's Day in Japan
- B. the Dragon Boat Festival
- C. the Qixi Festival
- D. the Harbin Ice Festival
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the Harbin Ice Festival
Did you know? Harbin's ice city opens each January.
32.Which festival crowds Sweden for flower crowns and maypoles?
- A. May Day
- B. the Dragon Boat Festival
- C. Midsummer
- D. Songkran
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Midsummer
Did you know? Midsummer is one of Sweden's biggest holidays.
33.Which festival races long dragon-prowed boats in China?
- A. Loy Krathong
- B. Bastille Day
- C. the Dragon Boat Festival
- D. Guy Fawkes Night
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the Dragon Boat Festival
Did you know? Dragon boat races honor the poet Qu Yuan.
34.Which festival marks international workers' day in much of the world?
- A. St. Patrick's Day
- B. May Day
- C. Mardi Gras
- D. Songkran
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May Day
Did you know? May Day parades are held on May 1.
35.Which festival floats small lantern baskets on Thai rivers?
- A. the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
- B. Loy Krathong
- C. the Monkey Buffet Festival
- D. Arbor Day
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Loy Krathong
Did you know? Loy Krathong floats launch on the November full moon.
36.Which festival chases a cheese wheel down a steep English hill?
- A. the Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill
- B. the Dragon Boat Festival
- C. the Notting Hill Carnival
- D. Arbor Day
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the Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill
Did you know? Cheese-rolling happens near Gloucester each spring.
37.Which festival flies carp streamers for each child in May?
- A. the Monkey Buffet Festival
- B. the Harbin Ice Festival
- C. Loy Krathong
- D. Children's Day in Japan
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Children's Day in Japan
Did you know? Carp streamers called koinobori fly on May 5.
38.Which festival spreads fruit for monkeys in Lopburi, Thailand?
- A. Earth Day
- B. the Running of the Bulls
- C. the Monkey Buffet Festival
- D. Chinese New Year
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the Monkey Buffet Festival
Did you know? Lopburi's macaques get a feast each November.
39.Which festival lights up Lyon with candlelit windows every December?
- A. Guy Fawkes Night
- B. the Naadam festival
- C. Children's Day in Japan
- D. the Fête des Lumières
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the Fête des Lumières
Did you know? Lyon's light festival draws millions.
40.Which festival tests wrestling, horse racing, and archery in Mongolia?
- A. the Mid-Autumn Festival
- B. the Day of the Dead
- C. Earth Day
- D. the Naadam festival
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the Naadam festival
Did you know? Naadam is Mongolia's national festival.
41.Which festival welcomes ancestors home with lantern dances in Japan?
- A. the Obon festival
- B. the Glastonbury Festival
- C. St. Patrick's Day
- D. Midsummer
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the Obon festival
Did you know? Obon is marked with the Bon Odori dance.

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