Culture Trivia Questions, From Fika to the Haka

Six rounds of 24 on how the world eats, greets, dresses and celebrates.

Question 1 of 144

Korean chopsticks differ from Chinese and Japanese ones in usually being made of what?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with any school, exam board or quiz show. Question bank last checked September 19, 2026.

Sample pick What is the small long-handled pot used to make Turkish coffee called?

Culture Trivia Questions, From Fika to the Haka: how it works

What are Korean chopsticks made of, and which number do Italians avoid? These 144 culture trivia questions take in customs from every inhabited continent. Tap a choice, press Check answer, and the card tells you the story behind it.

Host a culture night in rounds

Set Topic to one round for 24 questions on one subject. Read the question and its four choices aloud, have teams write a letter, then press Check answer and read the reason out too, because the why is the best part of a custom. Tally on paper: the card keeps no team scores. Greetings, gestures and good manners has the fewest hard questions, so it makes a kind opener.

Print a round for a class or a potluck

Pick a Topic, then Print question sheet for the next 20 questions with lettered choices. Print answer key adds each reason. Food and table manners suits an international potluck. The questions load over the network, so print while you are online.

Tips
  • Ask guests what their own family does. A question on la bise or the right hand for eating often starts a better story.
  • Teaching across several screens? Share this set gives a link that opens these questions in one fixed order for everyone.
  • Languages and writing and Music, dance and games hold ten hard questions each. Save one for the final round and score it double.

Questions and answers

What makes good cultural trivia questions?

A custom with a reason behind it. Asking why chopsticks are never stood upright in rice teaches more than asking for a capital city. Every question here explains its answer, and no culture is treated as a joke.

How hard are the questions?

Of the 144, 20 are easy, such as the Hindu festival of colored powder. Another 74 are medium, and 50 are hard, such as the number of strings on a West African kora. Every round mixes all three levels.

Which cultures are covered?

Every inhabited continent appears: Ghanaian kente, Swedish fika, Inca quipu, the Cherokee syllabary, the Thai festival of Loy Krathong and the Māori hongi, among others. Film, television, chart music and celebrity questions are left out on purpose.

Can I use these for a school culture day?

Yes. The content is clean and customs are described with respect. Each answer links to the article it was checked against on September 19, 2026, so students can read further. A printed sheet holds 20 questions.

All 144 questions

Festivals and holidays 24

  • A bonfire is lit on the night before Holi. Which figure from Hindu legend is the rite named after? Wikipedia: Holika Dahan
  • At La Tomatina, held each August in the Spanish town of Buñol, what do the crowds throw at one another? Wikipedia: La Tomatina
  • At Thailand's Loy Krathong festival, what do people set afloat on rivers, canals and ponds? Wikipedia: Loy Krathong
  • At the Fallas of Valencia each March, what happens to the giant painted sculptures on the final night? Wikipedia: Falles
  • At the fire festival of Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Shetland, what is burned at the end of the torchlit procession? Wikipedia: Up Helly Aa
  • At the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan, what does a sister tie around the wrist of her brother? Wikipedia: Raksha Bandhan
  • At the Qingming Festival in spring, what do Chinese families traditionally do? Wikipedia: Qingming Festival
  • At which Hindu spring festival do people throw colored powder and water at one another? Wikipedia: Holi
  • The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates which poet and statesman? Wikipedia: Dragon Boat Festival
  • During Japan's Obon festival in summer, whom do families honor? Wikipedia: Bon Festival
  • Eating a bowl of tteokguk, a soup of sliced rice cakes, on the Korean new year is traditionally said to do what? Wikipedia: Tteokguk
  • Eid al-Fitr is the festival that ends which month of fasting? Wikipedia: Eid al-Fitr
  • In Japan, at Setsubun in early February, what do people throw to drive bad luck out of the house? Wikipedia: Setsubun
  • In Japan, hanami is the custom of gathering outdoors to enjoy what? Wikipedia: Hanami
  • In Sweden, what do people traditionally raise and dance around at Midsummer? Wikipedia: Midsummer
  • Inti Raymi, staged every June in Cusco, Peru, was the great Inca festival of which god? Wikipedia: Inti Raymi
  • Matariki, the Māori new year, is marked by the rising of which group of stars? Wikipedia: Matariki
  • Mongolia's Naadam festival is built around three sports. Wrestling and horse racing are two. What is the third? Wikipedia: Naadam
  • On Nyepi, the Balinese new year, what do the people of Bali do for a full day? Wikipedia: Nyepi
  • The Palio, run twice each summer around the main square of Siena in Italy, is what kind of race? Wikipedia: Palio di Siena
  • Vesak, a public holiday in much of South and Southeast Asia, commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of whom? Wikipedia: Vesak
  • Which bread is eaten at a Passover Seder, in memory of a people who left Egypt in haste? Wikipedia: Matzah
  • Which food is traditionally eaten at the Dragon Boat Festival? Wikipedia: Dragon Boat Festival
  • Which of the two main Islamic festivals is known in English as the Feast of the Sacrifice? Wikipedia: Eid al-Adha
Show all 144 questions (120 more)

Food and table manners 24

  • The Arabic word halal is used for food that Muslims may eat. What does the word mean? Wikipedia: Halal
  • Around the eastern Mediterranean, what is a meze? Wikipedia: Meze
  • At a traditional feast in South India, what is the meal served on? Wikipedia: Banana leaf
  • Gimjang, listed by UNESCO in 2013, is the Korean custom of doing what together in late autumn? Wikipedia: Gimjang
  • In Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, mate is sipped from a gourd through a metal straw. What is the straw called? Wikipedia: Mate (drink)
  • In Cantonese teahouses, how do diners silently thank someone who has just filled their cup? Wikipedia: Yum cha
  • In India, what is a thali? Wikipedia: Thali
  • In Indonesia, which hand should be used for eating, passing things to people and giving a gift? Wikipedia: Etiquette in Asia
  • In Japan and China, why is it bad manners to stand your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice? Wikipedia: Chopsticks
  • In Japan, how is loudly slurping a bowl of hot noodles regarded? Wikipedia: Customs and etiquette in Japanese dining
  • In Japan, which word is said before eating and means I humbly receive? Wikipedia: Customs and etiquette in Japanese dining
  • In Russia, which metal urn is the traditional way to keep water hot for tea? Wikipedia: Samovar
  • In South Africa, what is a braai? Wikipedia: Regional variations of barbecue
  • In Spanish, what is the sobremesa? Wikipedia: Sobremesa
  • In Sweden, what is fika? Wikipedia: Coffee in Sweden
  • In Thailand, which pair of utensils is normally used for a meal of rice and shared dishes? Wikipedia: Thai cuisine
  • In the European style of using a knife and fork, where does the fork stay? Wikipedia: Eating utensil etiquette
  • Korean chopsticks differ from Chinese and Japanese ones in usually being made of what? Wikipedia: Chopsticks
  • Mint tea, poured from high above into small glasses, is a sign of hospitality in Morocco and across the Maghreb. Which tea is it made with? Wikipedia: Maghrebi mint tea
  • The North African stew called a tagine takes its name from what? Wikipedia: Tajine
  • Singapore's open-air food courts, where cooks sell cheap freshly made dishes from stalls, joined a UNESCO heritage list in 2020. What are they called? Wikipedia: Hawker centre
  • Under kosher rules, the Jewish dietary laws, which two kinds of food may not be cooked or eaten together? Wikipedia: Kashrut
  • What is the small long-handled pot used to make Turkish coffee called? Wikipedia: Turkish coffee
  • Who is commonly credited with starting the English custom of afternoon tea, in the 1830s or 1840s? Wikipedia: Tea (meal)

Greetings, gestures and good manners 24

  • A khata is given in Tibet and Mongolia to greet guests and mark big occasions. What is it? Wikipedia: Khata
  • The Arabic expression inshallah is heard across the Muslim world whenever plans are made. What does it mean? Wikipedia: Inshallah
  • The Hebrew greeting shalom and the Arabic greeting salaam share a meaning. What is it? Wikipedia: Shalom
  • In a Japanese home, what is the genkan? Wikipedia: Genkan
  • In France, what is la bise? Wikipedia: Cheek kissing
  • In Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, what does a single nod of the head upward, but not down, mean? Wikipedia: Nod (gesture)
  • In India, a younger person shows respect with a gesture called charanasparsha. Which part of the elder is touched? Wikipedia: Pranāma
  • In Italy, which number is traditionally considered unlucky? Wikipedia: Heptadecaphobia
  • In much of East Asia the number four is often skipped in floor and room numbers. Why? Wikipedia: Tetraphobia
  • In Spain a person traditionally has two surnames. Where do they come from? Wikipedia: Spanish naming customs
  • In Spanish-speaking countries and in Greece, which day is the traditional unlucky one, in place of Friday the 13th? Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
  • In the Filipino gesture called mano, how does a younger person show respect to an elder? Wikipedia: Mano (gesture)
  • In the hongi, the traditional Māori greeting, what do two people do? Wikipedia: Hongi
  • In which European country is the family name placed before the given name, as it is in China, Japan and Korea? Wikipedia: Hungarian names
  • The Italian word ciao comes from a Venetian phrase. What did it literally mean? Wikipedia: Ciao
  • The kowtow was a sign of deep respect in imperial China. What did it involve? Wikipedia: Kowtow
  • The kunik is a traditional Inuit sign of affection, mostly between family members. How is it done? Wikipedia: Eskimo kiss
  • The maneki-neko, a cat figure seen in shops and restaurants across Japan, has one paw raised. What is the paw doing? Wikipedia: Maneki-neko
  • Mazel tov is heard at Jewish weddings and other happy events. How is it used? Wikipedia: Mazel tov
  • Most Icelanders have no family surname. What is their last name based on? Wikipedia: Icelandic name
  • Namaste is said with a slight bow and with the hands in which position? Wikipedia: Namaste
  • The shaka, a friendly hand sign from Hawaii, is made by extending which two fingers? Wikipedia: Shaka sign
  • What is the traditional Thai greeting, a slight bow with the palms pressed together, called? Wikipedia: Thai greeting
  • When someone sneezes, German speakers say Gesundheit. What does the word mean? Wikipedia: Response to sneezing

Languages and writing 24

  • Afrikaans, one of the official languages of South Africa, developed from the speech of settlers from which country? Wikipedia: Afrikaans
  • American Sign Language grew out of a school for the deaf founded in Hartford in 1817. Which other sign language is it most closely related to? Wikipedia: American Sign Language
  • Arabic and Hebrew are both written in which direction? Wikipedia: Arabic alphabet
  • Basque, spoken at the western end of the Pyrenees, stands alone among the languages of Europe. Why? Wikipedia: Basque language
  • Haitian Creole, one of the two official languages of Haiti, takes most of its vocabulary from which language? Wikipedia: Haitian Creole
  • Hangul, the alphabet used to write Korean, was created in the 1440s under which king? Wikipedia: Hangul
  • In 1928 which country switched by law from an Arabic-based script to a new Latin alphabet? Wikipedia: Turkish alphabet
  • In Chinese tradition, the Four Treasures of the Study are the tools of calligraphy. The brush, the ink and the paper are three. What is the fourth? Wikipedia: Four Treasures of the Study
  • In which language does a written question begin with an upside-down question mark? Wikipedia: Upside-down question and exclamation marks
  • In which language is every noun written with a capital letter? Wikipedia: German orthography
  • The Inca ran an empire without a writing system. What did they use to keep records? Wikipedia: Quipu
  • Ogham, a script of strokes and notches found on standing stones, was used to write an early form of which language? Wikipedia: Ogham
  • Sequoyah, who could not read any language, invented a writing system of 85 characters for his own people. Which language does it write? Wikipedia: Cherokee syllabary
  • Silbo Gomero is used to send messages across the ravines of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. What kind of language is it? Wikipedia: Silbo Gomero
  • Speakers of Hindi and Urdu can understand one another. What most clearly separates the two on the page? Wikipedia: Hindustani language
  • Swahili is a Bantu language of East Africa. Which language gave it the largest share of its borrowed words? Wikipedia: Swahili language
  • Switzerland has four national languages. German, French and Italian are three. What is the fourth? Wikipedia: Languages of Switzerland
  • Which alphabet, carried around the Mediterranean by sea traders, is the ancestor of both the Greek and the Latin letters? Wikipedia: Phoenician alphabet
  • Which country has more living languages than any other, with more than 800? Wikipedia: Languages of Papua New Guinea
  • Which language has the most native speakers in the world? Wikipedia: Mandarin Chinese
  • Which language of Southeast Asia is written in the Latin alphabet, with added marks to show its tones? Wikipedia: Vietnamese alphabet
  • Which official language of the European Union is a Semitic language, related to Arabic, that is written in the Latin alphabet? Wikipedia: Maltese language
  • The word emoji comes from Japanese. What do its parts mean? Wikipedia: Emoji
  • Xhosa and Zulu, spoken in southern Africa, use a group of sounds that is rare among the languages of the world. What are they? Wikipedia: Click consonant

Clothing and crafts 24

  • A kanga is a printed cotton wrap worn in East Africa. What is usually printed on a strip within the design? Wikipedia: Kanga (garment)
  • A kimono is wrapped with the left side over the right. When is it wrapped the other way? Wikipedia: Kimono
  • Among the Tuareg of the Sahara, who wears the tagelmust, a long indigo-dyed cloth that covers the head and face? Wikipedia: Tagelmust
  • The áo dài, a long tunic split at the sides and worn over trousers, is the national dress of which country? Wikipedia: Áo dài
  • Aymara and Quechua women in Bolivia are known for wearing which European-style hat? Wikipedia: Bowler hat
  • Azulejos cover church walls, railway stations and house fronts across Portugal. What are they? Wikipedia: Azulejo
  • Batik cloth, most closely linked with Indonesia, is patterned by dyeing the fabric after drawing the design on it in what? Wikipedia: Batik
  • Beginning in 1291, the glassmakers of Venice were concentrated by law on which island? Wikipedia: Murano glass
  • The cuckoo clock is a traditional craft of which forested region of Germany? Wikipedia: Cuckoo clock
  • The curved teardrop motif that English speakers call paisley came from Persia by way of Kashmir shawls. Its English name comes from a textile town in which country? Wikipedia: Paisley (design)
  • The dreamcatcher is a willow hoop strung with a web. Its Ojibwe name comes from the word for which creature? Wikipedia: Dreamcatcher
  • The fez, a flat-topped red felt hat with a tassel, shares its name with a city in which country? Wikipedia: Fez (hat)
  • In Scottish Highland dress, what is a sporran? Wikipedia: Sporran
  • In which country do men wear a knee-length robe called a gho, tied at the waist with a cloth belt, as national dress? Wikipedia: Gho
  • The keffiyeh, a square cotton headdress worn across the Arab world, is often held in place by a circlet of cord. What is the cord called? Wikipedia: Keffiyeh
  • Kente, a cloth of bright silk and cotton woven in narrow strips, comes from which country? Wikipedia: Kente cloth
  • Klompen are the traditional shoes of the Netherlands. What are they made of? Wikipedia: Klomp
  • Lederhosen are the traditional short trousers of Bavaria and the Alps. What are they made of? Wikipedia: Lederhosen
  • The Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania wrap themselves in sheets of cloth called shuka. Which color is most typical? Wikipedia: Maasai people
  • Mehndi is body art painted on the hands and feet at weddings and festivals across South Asia. Which plant is the paste made from? Wikipedia: Mehndi
  • Russian matryoshka dolls, first made in the 1890s, are known for what? Wikipedia: Matryoshka doll
  • Tiny worry dolls, to which children tell their troubles before going to sleep, come from which country? Wikipedia: Worry doll
  • Which garment of South Asia is a single long piece of unstitched cloth, wrapped around the waist and draped over one shoulder? Wikipedia: Sari
  • The word khaki came into English through the British Indian Army. What does it mean? Wikipedia: Khaki

Music, dance and games 24

  • A gamelan, the traditional orchestra of Java and Bali, is made up mostly of which kind of instrument? Wikipedia: Gamelan
  • Bhangra began as a folk dance in which region of India and Pakistan? Wikipedia: Bhangra (dance)
  • Capoeira, from Brazil, blends dance, music and acrobatics with what? Wikipedia: Capoeira
  • Chess descends from chaturanga, a game first known around the seventh century in which country? Wikipedia: Chaturanga
  • The didgeridoo of northern Australia is traditionally made from a branch or trunk that has been hollowed out by what? Wikipedia: Didgeridoo
  • Fado, whose name means fate and whose songs are full of the longing called saudade, is the music of which country? Wikipedia: Fado
  • Flamenco, with its guitar, song, dance and handclaps, comes from which region of Spain? Wikipedia: Flamenco
  • The haka is a ceremonial dance of which people? Wikipedia: Haka
  • How many performers work a single lion in a Chinese lion dance? Wikipedia: Lion dance
  • Hula has two main styles. Kahiko is the ancient one, danced to chant and traditional instruments. What is the modern style, danced to song, guitar and ukulele, called? Wikipedia: Hula
  • In Japanese kabuki theater, what is an onnagata? Wikipedia: Kabuki
  • In mancala games, played across Africa and Asia, what do players move around the board? Wikipedia: Mancala
  • In the caber toss at a Highland games, what is the thrower trying to do? Wikipedia: Caber toss
  • In the French game of pétanque, what is the small wooden target ball called? Wikipedia: Pétanque
  • The mbira, a set of metal tines fixed to a wooden board and plucked with the thumbs, is traditional to the Shona people of which country? Wikipedia: Mbira
  • The modern steelpan, the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, is made from what? Wikipedia: Steelpan
  • Reggae grew out of ska and rocksteady in the late 1960s on which island? Wikipedia: Reggae
  • Sepak takraw, played across Southeast Asia, looks like volleyball with a rattan ball. What is the big difference? Wikipedia: Sepak takraw
  • Shogi, often called Japanese chess, has a rule that chess lacks. What is it? Wikipedia: Shogi
  • The sitar is a long-necked string instrument from which part of the world? Wikipedia: Sitar
  • Snakes and ladders began in ancient India as a game of moral lessons. What did the snakes stand for? Wikipedia: Snakes and ladders
  • Tango grew up in the 1880s in the port districts along which river, the border between Argentina and Uruguay? Wikipedia: Tango
  • The West African kora is a string instrument built on a large gourd. How many strings does it usually have? Wikipedia: Kora (instrument)
  • The whirling dervishes of Turkey belong to the Mevlevi order, founded by the followers of which 13th-century poet? Wikipedia: Mevlevi Order

How this list was compiled: Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every question, wrong choice and explanation is our own wording. Each answer was checked on 2026-09-19 against the page named and linked beside the question: the text of that English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org) was fetched that day, and the passage that states the fact was read before the question was kept. Every extra claim in an explanation was checked the same way, and a detail the article did not state plainly was cut or the question was reworded. Examples: the fez question asks which country shares the name, because the article calls the origin of the hat disputed; the khaki answer is soil-colored, the meaning the article gives; the right-hand question is asked about Indonesia only, where the article states the rule; the head-nod question follows the article in naming Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria and an upward nod; the steelpan question asks what a modern pan is made from; the matryoshka question says the 1890s. Dropped because the article read that day did not state them plainly: an Ethiopian hand-feeding custom, the origin of the word goodbye, the meaning of the word karaoke, knot counts in Persian carpets and the arm position in Irish stepdance. Left out on purpose: film, television, chart music and celebrity questions, population figures, speaker counts that change and any question that treats a custom as a joke. No question repeats one in another trivia set on this site as of 2026-09-19. Levels are our estimate. Licence: own work