Bonfire night quiz: questions and answers on Guy Fawkes and 5 November

In short

• This bonfire night quiz has 42 questions with answers in five rounds: the Gunpowder Plot, 5 November traditions, fireworks, music and a funny round for adults.
• The history answers come from UK Parliament, The National Archives and the Ashmolean Museum, and anything disputed has been left out.
• The fireworks round uses GOV.UK’s rules and RoSPA’s safety advice.
• Two number tie-breakers, so nobody finishes level.
• Every round works on a big-screen quiz board or on every guest’s phone.

A bonfire night quiz beats another general knowledge round at a work social or a pub quiz, because 5 November brings its own story: a plot, a tip-off, a man caught in the dark with 36 barrels of gunpowder, and a rhyme everyone half-knows.

I’ve written these for adults, so they have more bite than the kids’ worksheets that fill most search results, and I’ve checked every answer against a primary or official source. If you’re planning a work social in early November, the date does half the work for you.

What makes a good bonfire night quiz for adults?

A good bonfire night quiz for adults mixes the story everyone knows with the details nobody does. Most people know Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder. Far fewer know his alias, who caught him or what was in his pocket.

• Check answers at the source. Parliament’s own Gunpowder Plot pages are where I start.
• Leave out anything historians still argue about, such as who wrote the warning letter.
• Save the quick answers for the end, when the room is loud and you’re adding up scores.

Gunpowder Plot quiz questions

Ten questions on the plot itself, from the first meeting to the last stand.

1. Which king were the plotters trying to kill? Answer: James I (James VI of Scotland).
2. What false name did Guy Fawkes give when he was arrested? Answer: John Johnson.
3. Fawkes had fought as a soldier for which country, against the Dutch? Answer: Spain.
4. In which city did Fawkes go to St Peter’s School? Answer: York.
5. Which Catholic peer received an anonymous letter on 26 October 1605 warning him to stay away from Parliament? Answer: Lord Monteagle.
6. Which Westminster magistrate led the search that found Fawkes? Answer: Sir Thomas Knyvett.
7. The gunpowder was hidden underneath which chamber? Answer: the House of Lords.
8. Which of the King’s daughters did the plotters plan to seize and proclaim queen? Answer: Princess Elizabeth, then aged nine, according to Fawkes’s examination.
9. Which Italian form of his first name is Fawkes known by in the government’s records of his questioning? Answer: Guido.
10. At which Staffordshire house were Robert Catesby and Thomas Percy killed on 8 November 1605? Answer: Holbeach House.

Which bonfire night quiz questions cover the traditions?

The bonfire night quiz questions on traditions cover what happened after 1605. Parliament passed an Act, the churches preached for two centuries, and the cellars still get searched today.

1. Complete the rhyme: “Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and…” Answer: plot.
2. What was the name of the Act, passed in January 1606, that made 5 November an annual day of services? Answer: the Thanksgiving Act.
3. For roughly how long were those special church services held? Answer: two centuries.
4. Before Guy Fawkes, whose effigy was usually burned on 5 November bonfires? Answer: the Pope (accept the devil).
5. In the 19th century, children took a homemade guy round the streets to collect which two things? Answer: money and firewood.
6. Before every State Opening of Parliament, who ceremonially search the cellars for explosives? Answer: the Yeomen of the Guard.
7. Which Oxford museum holds the lantern said to have been carried by Fawkes? Answer: the Ashmolean.
8. Which Oxford library kept the lantern before it moved in 1887? Answer: the Bodleian.

What fireworks questions work in a bonfire night quiz?

The fireworks questions that work best have a “really?” answer: the chemistry behind the colours and the rules most people have never read. They also slip a safety briefing into the evening without anyone noticing.

1. Which metal gives fireworks their green colour? Answer: barium.
2. Strontium gives which colour? Answer: red.
3. And sodium? Answer: yellow.
4. Which colour is the hardest for firework makers to produce? Answer: blue, made with copper.
5. How old do you have to be to buy adult fireworks? Answer: 18.
6. Fireworks normally can’t be set off after 11pm. What is the cut-off on Bonfire Night? Answer: midnight.
7. RoSPA says a sparkler can reach roughly how many times the temperature of boiling water? Answer: 20 times.
8. Under what age should children not be given sparklers? Answer: five.

Those rules were correct in October 2026, when I wrote this. Check GOV.UK before you quote them, and leave the real fireworks to whoever is running the display.

Bonfire night music quiz questions

Every answer here has fire in it somewhere. Read the questions out, or play a few seconds of each track and ask for the artist.

1. Which composer wrote Music for the Royal Fireworks, first played for a display in Green Park in 1749? Answer: Handel.
2. Which Katy Perry single of 2010 shares its name with the night’s main attraction? Answer: “Firework”.
3. Which band had its first UK number one with “Firestarter” in 1996? Answer: The Prodigy.
4. Who had a UK number one with “Fire” in 1968? Answer: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
5. Which rock and roll pianist recorded “Great Balls of Fire” in 1957? Answer: Jerry Lee Lewis.
6. Who had a hit with “Ring of Fire” in 1963? Answer: Johnny Cash.
7. Whose 1989 hit runs through decades of headlines in “We Didn’t Start the Fire”? Answer: Billy Joel.
8. Which singer released “Burn” in 2013? Answer: Ellie Goulding.

What are some funny bonfire night quiz questions for adults?

The funniest bonfire night quiz questions for adults come straight from the historical record, because the real details are stranger than anything I could make up. These eight get a laugh and still count as history.

1. When the cellar was first searched, what was Fawkes found guarding? Answer: a large pile of firewood, with the gunpowder hidden underneath.
2. What did Edmund Doubleday find in Fawkes’s pocket and use to tie him up? Answer: his garters.
3. The famous cellar wasn’t really a cellar. What was it? Answer: a ground-floor storeroom, or undercroft.
4. Guy Fawkes gets the bonfire, but who was the plot’s ringleader? Answer: Robert Catesby.
5. In May 1604 the plotters met at an inn on the Strand. Name the inn. Answer: the Duck and Drake.
6. The 1605 wanted notice for Thomas Percy described his feet as what? Answer: long (“long footed”), with small legs.
7. During the State Opening, which MP is held “hostage” at Buckingham Palace? Answer: usually the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.
8. At George II’s 1749 fireworks in Green Park, what did the fireworks machine set alight? Answer: the pavilion built for the display.

How do you make a bonfire night picture quiz?

To make a bonfire night picture quiz, put six to ten images on one sheet per table, or on the big screen, and give each a one-line question. Use images you have the right to use, and ask for a name or a colour rather than a date.

• The Houses of Parliament: “Which chamber sat above the gunpowder?”
• The Ashmolean’s iron lantern. Whose is it said to be?
• A Yeoman of the Guard in full uniform, with the question “What do they search before every State Opening?”
• Three firework close-ups in red, green and yellow. Name the metal behind each colour.

What tie-breaker ends a bonfire night pub quiz?

The best tie-breaker for a bonfire night pub quiz has a number for an answer, so the closest team wins. Try this one: how many barrels of gunpowder were in place under the House of Lords? The answer is 36.

For a second, ask in what year Robert Heywood gave Fawkes’s lantern to Oxford University. It was 1641.

My running order: the Gunpowder Plot first so every table scores, music after the break, and the funny round last. For a joker round or a wipeout, there are more formats in quiz round ideas.

How I run a bonfire night quiz on my own software

A work quiz isn’t a pub quiz. Plenty of people at an office social would never call themselves quizzers, and when one person on each table holds the pen, the rest drift off. So I run quizzes as a show, on game software I built myself, and every game can be played at the front, at the tables or on every guest’s phone.

Here’s how the rounds above would play:

• On a Quiz Show board. The board has five categories, so the best five questions from each round make a column, easiest on the lowest value. Teams pick, buzz in and steal each other’s misses, and the picture round fills the big screen.
• On every phone. With my quiz software, every guest answers on their own phone, with points for being right and being quick and a leaderboard after every question. Nobody sits out while a captain holds the pen.
• As a knockout. The Cut puts the whole room in: five typed questions a round, and the lowest scores are cut until one player is left.

I write the questions for the room, so your bonfire night quiz can carry a round about your own company alongside Guy Fawkes.

Should you hire a quiz master for a bonfire night work do?

A quiz master is worth hiring for a bonfire night work do when the quiz is the main entertainment for a crowd rather than a warm-up. A professional writes questions for your people, runs the scoring on screen and keeps every table engaged through the tie-break.

For a family garden evening, a printed sheet and a loud voice will do. For a company night, have the date, headcount, the venue and screen, and whether the evening is indoors or out ready, then look at hiring a quiz master.

More quiz guides

• New year quiz questions for a work party or New Year’s Eve.
• Halloween quiz questions with answers for adults.

If you’d rather hand the whole night over, I’ll choose the games, write the rounds and host it as your quiz master. One host. The whole evening. Call me on 07596 851647 and tell me about the room.