Easter Trivia Quiz
Palm Sunday to Pentecost, bunnies to Fabergé eggs: 15 Easter questions for the whole family.
Easter Sunday celebrates which event in the Christian story?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The resurrection of Jesus
Easter marks the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, the event the Gospels place on the first day of the week after Passover. It is the oldest and most important festival in the Christian calendar.
In most European languages the festival's name derives from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover, as in the French Pâques and Spanish Pascua.
What is the name of the roughly forty-day season of fasting and reflection that leads up to Easter?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lent
Lent recalls the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, and in the Western church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. Sundays are not counted as fast days, which is why the season covers 46 calendar days.
The English word Lent comes from the Old English lencten, meaning spring, a reference to the lengthening days.
Holy Week begins with which Sunday, recalling Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on a donkey?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday remembers the crowds who spread palm branches and cloaks on the road as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, as described in all four Gospels. Churches hand out palm crosses, and in many places the ashes for the next Ash Wednesday come from burning them.
In northern countries where palms were scarce, willow or yew branches were traditionally carried instead, giving the day names such as Willow Sunday.
Hot cross buns, spiced and marked with a cross, are traditionally eaten on which day?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Good Friday
Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, the day Christians mark the crucifixion, with the cross on top standing for the cross of Christ and the spices recalling those brought to his tomb. English folklore held that a bun baked on Good Friday would never go mouldy.
The nursery rhyme Hot Cross Buns, with its one a penny, two a penny refrain, began as a London street cry in the 18th century.
Lent begins on which day in the Western Christian calendar?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ash Wednesday
In the Western church Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, when priests mark worshippers' foreheads with ashes as a sign of repentance. The day falls 46 days before Easter Sunday, so its date moves with Easter each year.
The day before, Shrove Tuesday, became Pancake Day in Britain because households used up their eggs, milk and butter before the fast.
The Easter Bunny tradition was carried to America in the 1700s by immigrants from which country?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Germany
German Protestant settlers in Pennsylvania brought tales of the Osterhase, an egg-laying hare that rewarded well-behaved children, and the earliest written mention of it comes from Germany in the 1680s. The hare became a bunny as the custom spread across America in the 19th century.
Children originally built nests for the hare's eggs out of caps and bonnets; decorated baskets came later.
The jewelled Fabergé Easter eggs were made for the imperial family of which country?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Russia
Tsar Alexander III commissioned the first egg, the Hen Egg, from Peter Carl Fabergé as an Easter gift for his wife in 1885, and the tradition continued under Nicholas II until 1916. Fifty imperial eggs were delivered, each hiding a surprise inside.
Several imperial eggs are still missing; one, the Third Imperial Egg, resurfaced in 2014 after an American scrap dealer had bought it for its gold value.
Easter Island, named by a Dutch explorer who landed there on Easter Sunday in 1722, belongs to which country today?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Chile
Jacob Roggeveen sighted the island on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1722, and named it Paasch-Eyland. Chile annexed it in 1888, and it is now a special territory of Chile lying about 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles) off the mainland.
The islanders call it Rapa Nui, and nearly 1,000 moai statues survive, the tallest standing almost 10 metres (33 feet) high.
Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after which astronomical event, by the rule the churches use?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The spring equinox
Since the Council of Nicaea in 325, Easter has been fixed as the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, which the church sets at 21 March. Because the moon drives the formula, Easter wanders across more than a month of the calendar.
The church uses tables of calculated ecclesiastical moons rather than the real sky, so Easter occasionally differs from what an astronomer would predict.
Which day of Holy Week commemorates the Last Supper and Jesus washing his disciples' feet?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin mandatum, the new commandment to love one another that Jesus gave at the Last Supper. Many churches re-enact the foot washing, and in Britain the monarch hands out Maundy money to pensioners.
Spy Wednesday, the day before, is named for Judas agreeing to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
Pentecost, which closes the Easter season, takes its name from the Greek word for which number?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Fiftieth
Pentecost comes from the Greek pentēkostē, meaning fiftieth, because it falls on the fiftieth day counting Easter Sunday as day one. It commemorates the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles and is often called the birthday of the church.
Ascension Day comes ten days earlier, forty days after Easter, which is why it always lands on a Thursday.
Which traditional Italian Easter cake is baked in the shape of a dove?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Colomba
Colomba di Pasqua, the Easter dove, is a soft yeasted cake from Milan studded with candied peel and topped with pearl sugar and almonds. The Milanese firm Motta popularised it in the 1930s as an Easter companion to its Christmas panettone.
The dove recalls the bird that returned to Noah with an olive branch, a Christian symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit.
In which country do children dress as Easter witches and go door to door for sweets in the days before Easter?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Sweden
Swedish children dress as påskkärringar, Easter hags, in headscarves and painted cheeks, and hand out drawings in exchange for sweets on Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday. Folklore said witches flew to the mountain Blåkulla to meet the devil at Easter.
Swedish-speaking parts of Finland share the custom, and Easter bonfires in western Sweden were traditionally lit to scare the witches away.
What is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall in the Western calendar?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
25 April
Easter can fall anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. The 25 April extreme last occurred in 1943 and will next arrive in 2038, while the 22 March limit will not be seen again until 2285.
Orthodox churches still calculate Easter with the Julian calendar, so their Pascha can fall as late as 8 May on the modern calendar.
Which US president hosted the first official White House Easter Egg Roll in 1878?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes opened the White House grounds to egg rolling in 1878 after Congress banned children from using the Capitol lawn, which earlier rolls had churned up. The event has been held most years since, pausing for wars and the Covid pandemic.
Guests receive a commemorative wooden egg, a tradition that began under Ronald Reagan in 1981.
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All General Knowledge quizzes →About the Easter Trivia Quiz
Easter can land anywhere from 22 March to 25 April, the Easter Bunny arrived in America with German settlers in the 1700s, and Swedish children celebrate by dressing up as witches. The oldest Christian festival has gathered an extraordinary collection of customs, foods and legends over two thousand years.
These 15 Easter trivia questions cover the days of Holy Week and Lent, the rule that fixes the date, treats such as hot cross buns and Italy's dove-shaped colomba, Fabergé eggs, Easter Island and the White House Egg Roll. The early questions suit children and casual players, while the later ones give trivia fans something to chew on alongside their chocolate eggs.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Easy. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
Is the Easter quiz suitable for kids?
Mostly. The first eight questions cover Easter basics such as Lent, Palm Sunday and the Easter Bunny; the last few on the date rule and the White House Egg Roll are aimed at adults.
Why does Easter change date every year?
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, so it moves with the lunar calendar between 22 March and 25 April.
Does the quiz cover religious and secular Easter?
Yes. It mixes Holy Week, Lent and Pentecost with bunnies, Fabergé eggs, Easter Island, Swedish Easter witches and American egg rolling.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Easter Sunday celebrates which event in the Christian story?
The resurrection of Jesus Easter marks the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, the event the Gospels place on the first day of the week after Passover. It is the oldest and most important festival in the Christian calendar. In most European languages the festival's name derives from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover, as in the French Pâques and Spanish Pascua. - What is the name of the roughly forty-day season of fasting and reflection that leads up to Easter?
Lent Lent recalls the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, and in the Western church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. Sundays are not counted as fast days, which is why the season covers 46 calendar days. The English word Lent comes from the Old English lencten, meaning spring, a reference to the lengthening days. - Holy Week begins with which Sunday, recalling Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on a donkey?
Palm Sunday Palm Sunday remembers the crowds who spread palm branches and cloaks on the road as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, as described in all four Gospels. Churches hand out palm crosses, and in many places the ashes for the next Ash Wednesday come from burning them. In northern countries where palms were scarce, willow or yew branches were traditionally carried instead, giving the day names such as Willow Sunday. - Hot cross buns, spiced and marked with a cross, are traditionally eaten on which day?
Good Friday Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, the day Christians mark the crucifixion, with the cross on top standing for the cross of Christ and the spices recalling those brought to his tomb. English folklore held that a bun baked on Good Friday would never go mouldy. The nursery rhyme Hot Cross Buns, with its one a penny, two a penny refrain, began as a London street cry in the 18th century. - Lent begins on which day in the Western Christian calendar?
Ash Wednesday In the Western church Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, when priests mark worshippers' foreheads with ashes as a sign of repentance. The day falls 46 days before Easter Sunday, so its date moves with Easter each year. The day before, Shrove Tuesday, became Pancake Day in Britain because households used up their eggs, milk and butter before the fast. - The Easter Bunny tradition was carried to America in the 1700s by immigrants from which country?
Germany German Protestant settlers in Pennsylvania brought tales of the Osterhase, an egg-laying hare that rewarded well-behaved children, and the earliest written mention of it comes from Germany in the 1680s. The hare became a bunny as the custom spread across America in the 19th century. Children originally built nests for the hare's eggs out of caps and bonnets; decorated baskets came later. - The jewelled Fabergé Easter eggs were made for the imperial family of which country?
Russia Tsar Alexander III commissioned the first egg, the Hen Egg, from Peter Carl Fabergé as an Easter gift for his wife in 1885, and the tradition continued under Nicholas II until 1916. Fifty imperial eggs were delivered, each hiding a surprise inside. Several imperial eggs are still missing; one, the Third Imperial Egg, resurfaced in 2014 after an American scrap dealer had bought it for its gold value. - Easter Island, named by a Dutch explorer who landed there on Easter Sunday in 1722, belongs to which country today?
Chile Jacob Roggeveen sighted the island on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1722, and named it Paasch-Eyland. Chile annexed it in 1888, and it is now a special territory of Chile lying about 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles) off the mainland. The islanders call it Rapa Nui, and nearly 1,000 moai statues survive, the tallest standing almost 10 metres (33 feet) high. - Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after which astronomical event, by the rule the churches use?
The spring equinox Since the Council of Nicaea in 325, Easter has been fixed as the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, which the church sets at 21 March. Because the moon drives the formula, Easter wanders across more than a month of the calendar. The church uses tables of calculated ecclesiastical moons rather than the real sky, so Easter occasionally differs from what an astronomer would predict. - Which day of Holy Week commemorates the Last Supper and Jesus washing his disciples' feet?
Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin mandatum, the new commandment to love one another that Jesus gave at the Last Supper. Many churches re-enact the foot washing, and in Britain the monarch hands out Maundy money to pensioners. Spy Wednesday, the day before, is named for Judas agreeing to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. - Pentecost, which closes the Easter season, takes its name from the Greek word for which number?
Fiftieth Pentecost comes from the Greek pentēkostē, meaning fiftieth, because it falls on the fiftieth day counting Easter Sunday as day one. It commemorates the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles and is often called the birthday of the church. Ascension Day comes ten days earlier, forty days after Easter, which is why it always lands on a Thursday. - Which traditional Italian Easter cake is baked in the shape of a dove?
Colomba Colomba di Pasqua, the Easter dove, is a soft yeasted cake from Milan studded with candied peel and topped with pearl sugar and almonds. The Milanese firm Motta popularised it in the 1930s as an Easter companion to its Christmas panettone. The dove recalls the bird that returned to Noah with an olive branch, a Christian symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit. - In which country do children dress as Easter witches and go door to door for sweets in the days before Easter?
Sweden Swedish children dress as påskkärringar, Easter hags, in headscarves and painted cheeks, and hand out drawings in exchange for sweets on Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday. Folklore said witches flew to the mountain Blåkulla to meet the devil at Easter. Swedish-speaking parts of Finland share the custom, and Easter bonfires in western Sweden were traditionally lit to scare the witches away. - What is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall in the Western calendar?
25 April Easter can fall anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. The 25 April extreme last occurred in 1943 and will next arrive in 2038, while the 22 March limit will not be seen again until 2285. Orthodox churches still calculate Easter with the Julian calendar, so their Pascha can fall as late as 8 May on the modern calendar. - Which US president hosted the first official White House Easter Egg Roll in 1878?
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford B. Hayes opened the White House grounds to egg rolling in 1878 after Congress banned children from using the Capitol lawn, which earlier rolls had churned up. The event has been held most years since, pausing for wars and the Covid pandemic. Guests receive a commemorative wooden egg, a tradition that began under Ronald Reagan in 1981.
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