Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
50 free Fireworks trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free Fireworks trivia questions with answers. Fireworks turn up at nearly every celebration on Earth, from Diwali and Chinese New Year to the Fourth of July, Bonfire Night and Sydney at midnight, and this quiz covers the whole story. It runs from bamboo popping in Han-dynasty fires and the paper firecrackers of Song China through the chemistry of colour (which metal makes red, which makes green, and why blue is the hard one), the names of the shell shapes you see overhead, the biggest annual shows, the strangest laws, and the company that now buys more fireworks than anyone else in the world. About a third of the questions are easy enough for a family Fourth of July or Bonfire Night round; the rest climb steadily to details that will stretch a pyrotechnics enthusiast. Every answer has been checked against a reference source and each question shows its citation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Fireworks were invented in which country?
China
China is still the world's biggest maker and exporter of fireworks today.
Q 02Under which Chinese ruling house did the earliest true fireworks appear, between 960 and 1279?
The Song
Song-era vendors sold firecrackers in the markets, and a military display entertained the emperor in 1110.
Q 03Long before gunpowder, what did Han-dynasty Chinese throw into fires to make a loud bang?
Bamboo stems
Air trapped in the hollow stems bursts with heat; the word for firecracker, baozhu, literally means 'exploding bamboo'.
Q 04Which three ingredients make up traditional gunpowder?
Sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter
Sulfur and charcoal are the fuel; saltpeter, potassium nitrate, supplies the oxygen so it can burn fast without air.
Q 05Which colour is notoriously the hardest to produce in fireworks?
Blue
Copper compounds have to burn at a very precise temperature; a deep, rich blue is considered the mark of an expert maker.
Q 06Salts of which metal give fireworks a deep red colour?
Strontium
The element was identified in 1790 by its crimson flame test, from ore found in the Scottish village of Strontian.
Q 07Compounds of which metal burn with a green flame in fireworks?
Barium
Some barium compounds are toxic, which is one reason green fireworks are a pollution concern.
Q 08Which metal fuels the brightest fireworks stars, nicknamed 'Mag Stars'?
Aluminium
Pure magnesium is rarely used because it does not form a protective oxide layer; an alloy called magnalium is common instead.
Q 09What are the small pellets inside a shell that burn to produce the coloured points of light called?
Stars
Each star contains a fuel, an oxidiser, a colour-producing salt and a binder to hold it together.
Q 10Which is the most commonly seen aerial shell effect: a sphere of coloured stars with no tails?
Peony
Add trailing sparks and it becomes a chrysanthemum; make the burning pellets few and large and it is a dahlia.
Q 11Which shell effect is named after a Japanese word for a boy's haircut?
Kamuro
Its dense dome of glittering gold or silver droops like a bowl cut as it falls.
Q 12Which shell effect produces a break of stars that shoot away from the burst as if swimming?
Fish
Palm shells imitate a tree trunk with a rising tail, and spiders leave straight radial lines like legs.
Q 13A shell that fires only flash powder to produce a loud bang rather than a picture is called what?
A salute
Salutes, also called maroons, are packed into finales for sheer noise; some places ban the louder version.
Q 21Which department store has sponsored New York's Fourth of July fireworks every year since 1976?
Macy's
The store's very first fireworks show was on July 1, 1958, for its own 100th birthday.
Q 22Which US TV network has broadcast the Macy's fireworks special since 2000?
NBC
Its contract runs to 2035 and is bundled with the Thanksgiving parade rights.
Q 23Which landmark is the main focal point of Australia's biggest New Year's Eve fireworks show?
The Sydney Harbour Bridge
The idea of firing from the bridge came from a New York bridge's centenary show in 1983.
Q 14In firework jargon, what is a 'cake'?
A cluster of tubes fused to fire a series of aerial shots
A single cake can hold more than 1,000 shots and goes by names like 'Waco Wakeup' and 'Poisonous Spider'.
Q 15A long tube that shoots out large stars one after another at regular intervals is called what?
A Roman candle
They are often set up in fans or criss-cross patterns close to the crowd; larger ones fire small shells called bombettes.
Q 16Roughly how hot does a hand-held sparkler burn?
Over 1,000 °C
That is hot enough to melt some metals, which is why the humble sparkler causes so many burns each year.
Q 17Which two elements are common ingredients in whistling fireworks' fuel?
Benzoate or salicylate compounds
The whistle comes from the fuel burning in extremely fast pulses, not from any special tube shape.
Q 18A firework called a 'hummer' makes its noise how?
Tiny spinning tubes shred their casings as they fly
They whizz and hum as they spin, sounding like a short cheer.
Q 19Which theme park pioneered compressed-air launches of aerial fireworks in 2004?
Disneyland
The shells are timed electronically, cutting smoke and improving accuracy; Disney became the world's biggest fireworks buyer.
Q 20Who is the largest single buyer of fireworks in the world?
The Walt Disney Company
Nightly shows at a dozen parks add up; its California park alone has fired fireworks most nights since the 1950s.
Q 24A 1983 centenary fireworks show on which New York structure gave Sydney the idea for its harbour display?
The Brooklyn Bridge
Sydney's own display was made official by the Festival of Sydney and its first bridge-based show was designed by Syd Howard.
Q 25Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November marks the failure of which conspiracy?
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605
Fawkes was caught guarding the barrels beneath the House of Lords, hence the effigies and the bonfires.
Q 26Which Sussex town is famous for rolling lit tar barrels through its streets on Bonfire Night?
Lewes
Its bonfire societies still burn effigies of the pope and topical hate figures every 5 November.
Q 27Japan's first fireworks festival was decreed in 1733 on which Tokyo river, to mourn famine victims?
The Sumida
The Sumidagawa festival still runs, and Japan holds more than 200 fireworks festivals in August alone.
Q 28In France, fireworks traditionally light up the sky on the eve of which national holiday?
Bastille Day
Paris fires its show around the Eiffel Tower to mark the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.
Q 29Which Indian 'festival of lights' is celebrated with fireworks each October or November?
Diwali
In the UK, Diwali is one of only four nights when fireworks may legally be set off after 11 pm.
Q 30Which principality has hosted an international fireworks competition every summer since 1966?
Monaco
The winner returns on 18 November to fire the display for the eve of Monaco's National Day.