50 free 12 Days of Christmas trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free 12 Days of Christmas trivia questions with answers. Almost everything people think they know about the twelve days of Christmas is wrong, which makes it excellent quiz material. These 50 questions cover the carol itself — the 1780 children's book it first appeared in, the memory game it probably started as, the 1909 arrangement that added the drawn-out 'five gold rings', and the secret-catechism story that keeps circulating despite being debunked. The rest covers the season the song is named after: when the twelve days actually run, why Twelfth Night has two competing dates, what Epiphany commemorates in East and West, what happens if you find the bean in the cake, and how much it would cost to buy every gift in the song today. Every answer was checked against a primary reference before publication, so the dates, publishers and figures here are accurate rather than repeated from a Christmas listicle. Play it in December, or use it to settle the annual argument about when the decorations have to come down.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Where were the words of the carol first published, in 1780?
An illustrated children's book
The book was called Mirth Without Mischief and appeared in London. No music was printed with it.
Q 02What was the title of that 1780 children's book?
Mirth Without Mischief
It printed the words but no tune. The familiar melody arrived more than a century later.
Q 03What kind of parlour entertainment do early sources say the song began as?
A memory-and-forfeits game
Players repeated a growing verse and paid a forfeit for mistakes. That is why the list keeps piling up.
Q 04Who arranged the standard version of the carol, published in 1909?
Frederic Austin
His arrangement was published by Novello & Co in 1909. The drawn-out 'five gold rings' is his own addition.
Q 05Which part of the tune is credited as an original addition rather than traditional?
The 'five gold rings' phrase
Frederic Austin wrote it into his 1909 arrangement. The rest of the melody is much older.
Q 06What did the popular claim that the carol is a coded Catholic catechism turn out to be?
Incorrect
Snopes examined it and found no support. The story still circulates every December.
Q 07Peter and Iona Opie suggested the song may have come from where, if the partridge is taken literally?
France
Partridges did not perch in English pear trees. The bird's habits point across the Channel.
Q 08Which bank has published a tongue-in-cheek index of the carol's gift prices since 1984?
PNC
It totals the cost of every item in the song. In 2024 the figure hit a record high.
Q 09If you buy every gift on every day as the song describes, how many items do you end up with?
364
That total is the 'True Cost of Christmas' version of the index. It is one item short of a year's worth.
Q 10After the dancers, which gift was the priciest item on the 2024 Christmas Price Index?
The seven swans
Swans breed unpredictably, so their supply is uncertain. Livestock prices move the index more than jewellery does.
Q 11What record did the True Cost of Christmas reach in 2024?
$209,272
Prices had recovered strongly from 2021 onwards. Buying the song outright is not a cheap hobby.
Q 12Which day opens the twelve-day festive season in Western Christianity?
Christmas Day
They end with Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve on the evening of 5 January. The season is properly called Christmastide.
Q 13Which 6th-century church assembly proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany a sacred season?
The Council of Tours
That is where the fixed twelve-day season comes from. The feasting tradition long outlived the ruling.
Q 21What does the Old Norse phrase behind the word 'wassail' mean?
Be in good health
The Old English equivalent was wes hál. It was a toast long before it was a drink.
Q 22What is the purpose of orchard wassailing?
To wake the cider apple trees
Scaring off evil spirits is supposed to secure a good autumn harvest. It is traditionally done on Twelfth Night.
Q 23What happens to the person who finds the hidden figurine in their slice?
They host or buy the next one
The baby symbolises luck and prosperity. The cake is served from Epiphany through to Carnival.
Q 14What is historically considered unlucky about Christmas decorations?
Removing them before Twelfth Night
Leaving them up past Candlemas is thought just as bad. The window is narrower than most people assume.
Q 15Which Dickens novella preserves the older twelve-day traditions of plum pudding, roast goose and wassail?
A Christmas Carol
Victorian writers helped fix the modern image of the season. The feasting they describe belongs to a much older calendar.
Q 16In some households, on which two days of the twelve are gifts exchanged?
The first and the last
That means 25 December and 5 January. Contemporary customs also include lighting a candle for each day.
Q 17What do Eastern Christians principally commemorate at Epiphany?
The baptism of Jesus
Western churches mark the visit of the Magi; Eastern churches mark the baptism of Jesus. The evening before is Twelfth Night.
Q 18Which ritual do Orthodox churches perform at Theophany?
The Great Blessing of Waters
Priests bless rivers, lakes and the sea, and in some countries swimmers dive for a cross. The Western church marks the Magi instead.
Q 19What do children in Spain and Latin America leave out on the evening before Three Kings' Day?
Shoes, with grass and water for camels
The gifts arrive on the morning of 6 January. The three kings, not Santa, do the delivering.
Q 20What is wassail, as a drink?
A hot mulled punch
It is drunk from a communal bowl at Christmastide. The word began as a greeting rather than a recipe.
Q 24What do the three traditional colours of a Louisiana king cake stand for?
Justice, faith and power
Purple is justice, green is faith and gold is power. The cake itself is usually brioche dough.
Q 25What is the French equivalent of the king cake called?
The galette des rois
It is flaky puff pastry, traditionally filled with frangipane. Modern versions use chocolate or fruit.
Q 26Which holiday falls on the day after Christmas Day?
Boxing Day
It usually coincides with Saint Stephen's Day. British football leagues traditionally play a full programme.
Q 27Where does the name of the 26 December holiday come from?
Christmas boxes collected by tradesmen
They collected money or presents for good service through the year. The custom was British and spread across the Commonwealth.
Q 28Whose feast day usually coincides with that same holiday?
Stephen
He is the subject of the carol Good King Wenceslas, which opens on that feast. The holiday is observed across several Commonwealth nations.
Q 29What sporting tradition marks that holiday in Britain?
A full programme of league football
Fixtures are deliberately scheduled for local derbies. Racing and rugby also take place.
Q 30Which two dates are both claimed as the twelfth night?
5 or 6 January
It depends on whether you start counting on Christmas Day or the day after. Both are defended vigorously.