What Happens in London... Quiz | Mixed England

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Every August over the final Bank Holiday weekend of summer, over one million people attend a festival-like parade in West London. With a substantial Caribbean flavour and a party atmosphere full of music, dancing and food, which annual London event is this?

Answer: Notting Hill Carnival

An amalgamation of the St Pancras Caribbean Carnival of 1959 and the hippie-style festival held in Notting Hill in 1966, the Notting Hill Carnival is one of the biggest events in London's annual calendar. Often billed as a Rio-style carnival with a Caribbean theme, the festival is diverse and extremely popular with both Londoners and visitors alike.

The roots of the carnival lie in an attempt to create cultural unity in the newly ethnically-diverse London of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s, in particular, the carnival was marred by riots by Caribbean youths who felt that they had been discriminated against in some manner. Now, however, despite a large and reactive police presence, the focus of the carnival is on music, dancing and food.

Since the 1990s, over one million people have attended the carnival each year, making it one of the largest in the world.

2. Two of the world's oldest universities (incidentally neither of which is situated in London) take part in a yearly race from Putney to Mortlake. Held each year in March, which race is this?

Answer: The Boat Race

Held either at the beginning or end of March each year, a team of student rowers from Oxford University and Cambridge University take to the Thames to race for their honor in the Boat Race. Starting at University Stone, near Putney, the teams race west along the Thames towards Chiswick Bridge. The majority of spectators continue the British tradition of watching from a pub garden along the route.

Around 250,000 people turn out each year to watch, despite the vast majority having no connection with either university, and the race is televised by the BBC. With the first race held in 1829, there have been many notable incidents including mutinies, sinkings and injuries. In 2012, scandal rocked the race when Australian capitalism-protester Trenton Oldfield jumped into the river and swam between the boats, causing a halt and restart.

3. Each year on the day before Good Friday, the reigning British monarch gives out sets of specially minted coins to a number of pensioners determined by the monarch's age (one man and one woman for each year). What annual event is this?

Answer: Royal Maundy Money Distribution

Held on Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday) each year, this ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey on even numbered years and in other cathedrals across the United Kingdom on odd numbered years. Although recipients are chosen by the government, the ceremony does allow spectators.

The tradition began in 1699, with the reigning monarch (in those days often represented by an official) washing the feet of the poor and distributing gifts to beggars. The tradition eventually became only money distribution, and the monarch has only taken personal responsibility from the 1930s, when King George V undertook the service himself. Recipients are no longer chosen for their poverty but now for their contributions to community services and charity work. The coins are specially minted and are legal tender, but rarely spent as they are collector's items and only actually come in denominations of one penny, two pence, and three pence.

4. Held in the Widow's Son Pub by Devons Road, East London, this ceremony has taken place at noon on Good Friday every year for over 150 years. It involves the addition of which Easter favourite food to a pile that has been built up over 150 years?

Answer: Hot Cross Bun

The tradition began over 150 years ago, when the widow that lived on the site of the Widow's Son Pub laid out a hot cross bun every Good Friday in the hope that her only son would return from sea in time for Easter. It seems that he never did return, and the tradition has continued long after her death.

The stale pile in the window has a new bun added every year and remains for all to see. Over the years, the navy have taken part in the tradition, and locals and visitors alike have been known to call the pub "The Bun House" in its honour.

5. Held in May each year, this annual church service is held at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden. It sees dozens of men dressed up as puppets for the day, heckling and interjecting rude comments into a sermon. The service is followed by a brass band procession and puppetry performances all afternoon. What annual, slightly bizarre, London tradition is this?

Answer: Mr Punch Service

St Paul's Church is also known as "The Actors' Church" due to its proximity to the many theatres in the West End of London. Each year, a service is held there which many attend just to watch the heckling by the participants that attend dressed as and acting as Mr Punch, the abusive and rude character from the famous "Punch and Judy" puppet shows.

A brass band procession, a May Fayre and many puppet shows are then held in Covent Garden to celebrate the famous puppet show. There is a plaque at St Paul's commemorating Mr Punch, in the exact spot that the famous diarist Samuel Pepys wrote that he first saw a Mr Punch puppet in his May 1662 diary.

6. In July of each year, all unmarked mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, marked and released back onto the river. The ceremonial marking of the swans allows a register to be kept and has a special name. What is the name of this annual London event?

Answer: Swan Upping

Since around the twelfth century, mute swans have been considered the property of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. This stems from the medieval tradition whereby royalty ate swan as a staple part of their diet. Today, the monarch retains this right but only exercises it on certain sections of the Thames.

In around the fifteenth century, a royal charter made the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company of the City of London part owners of the swans. It is these livery companies that carry out modern swan upping. Swans are tagged with thin rings round their legs, which allows a census to be kept of all swans in London, and their progress, growth and health to be charted.

7. At the Church of St. Katharine Cree in central London, a special sermon takes place on 16 October to commemorate the terrifying animal experience of John Gayer, Lord Mayor of London, in Syria in about 1630. What sermon is this?

Answer: Lion Sermon

John Gayer, Lord Mayor of London, was said to have been approached by a lion in the Syrian desert in around 1630. Gayer prayed on his knees, and the lion chose not to eat him. He was so grateful to God that he financed a sermon in honor of the experience.

It is not known what he was doing in the desert in Syria, but his experience was clearly memorable because the Lion Sermon has remained.

8. This rather meaningless ancient ceremony is held on a Wednesday afternoon in October each year, and involves the City Solicitor of London cutting hazel rods before presenting them (along with six horseshoes and 61 nails) to the Queen's Remembrancer as rent for a piece of ground in Shropshire. Any ideas what annual ceremony this is?

Answer: Horseshoe and Faggot-Cutting Ceremony

In 1235, six horseshoes, 61 nails and a few hazel rods were set as the rent for a piece of ground in Shropshire called The Moors at Eardington. No one is sure what piece of land this is now, but the rent continues to be paid each year. It is one of the oldest ceremonies in Britain, and must be carried out on a Wednesday afternoon "between the morrow of St Michael and the morrow of St Martin".

It is so old, in fact, that the job of Remembrancer has only two modern uses - to take part in this ceremony and to receive the Lord Chancellor's Great Seal upon his death, another bizarre and ancient ceremonial event.

9. Each year on 19 May, an odd ritual takes place at the Church of St Peter in Chains within the Tower of London. A florist, acting for a strictly anonymous party, lays a dozen red roses on the grave of a famously beheaded queen. This ritual has gone on for more than 160 years. Whose grave are the flowers laid upon?

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was beheaded on Tower Green on 19 May 1536. She protested her innocence and loyalty to the king right until her beheading that day. It is not known who has financed the laying of the blood-red roses on her grave, but theories include the Percy family or the ancient Dukes of Northumberland (one of whom Anne had loved before Henry VIII).

10. On the third Sunday in September each year, a special church service is held at St John's, Hyde Park in London. What is special about it?

Answer: Everyone is on horseback

Known as "Horseman's Sunday", this special church service is held outside, with each member of the congregation seated on horseback. The sermon is preceded by a blessing of each horse and rider, and rosettes are presented. The service started in the 1960s, attempting to highlight the need for better upkeep of the Hyde Park stables.

Source: Author suzidunc

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

What Happens in London... Trivia Quiz

As one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, you could be forgiven for thinking that London is all about the landmarks. However, it also plays host to many fantastic, exciting and often rather eccentric annual events.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>