The landlord's blog Quiz nights
Bonfire Night pub quiz: 20 questions and answers (checked against the history books)
Twenty Bonfire Night quiz questions with answers for a pub round, from the Gunpowder Plot to the fireworks rules, each one checked against a named source, plus a tie-breaker and tips for running the round.
A lot of Bonfire Night quizzes online get the history wrong. The number of plotters changes from quiz to quiz, and so does the number of barrels. That's a nightmare when a team at the back knows the real answer and you've marked it wrong.
So every answer below has been checked against Royal Museums Greenwich, English Heritage or GOV.UK, and the sources are listed at the bottom. Use them as one round, or split them into two rounds of ten.
How to use this round
- Read each question twice and say the number every time.
- Put them on your screens if you can, so the back tables keep up. There's more on that in why the back of the room can't hear your quiz.
- Accept close spellings. "Catsby" for Catesby is fair. Decide before you start and say so.
- Keep the tie-breaker at the bottom for the end of the night.
Round one: the plot
1. In what year was the Gunpowder Plot?
Answer: 1605.
2. Which king were the plotters trying to kill?
Answer: King James I (James VI of Scotland). Royal Museums Greenwich describes the plot as a failed attempt to assassinate King James I at the Opening of Parliament.
3. Who was the leader of the plot?
Answer: Robert Catesby.
4. How many plotters were there in total?
Answer: 13. English Heritage says Catesby's servant Thomas Bates brought the number to thirteen.
5. How many barrels of gunpowder were found under Parliament?
Answer: 36.
6. What false name did Guy Fawkes use while guarding the gunpowder?
Answer: John Johnson.
7. Fawkes had fought for which country's army before the plot?
Answer: Spain. English Heritage says he fought for Spain and took the name Guido.
8. What Italian-style first name did Fawkes use, and sign his confession with?
Answer: Guido.
9. Which lord received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away from Parliament?
Answer: Lord Monteagle.
10. Who did Lord Monteagle pass the letter to?
Answer: Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, the King's chief minister.
Round two: what happened next
11. Where exactly was the gunpowder hidden?
Answer: In a cellar (an undercroft) directly beneath the House of Lords.
12. Which of the King's daughters did the plotters plan to put on the throne?
Answer: Princess Elizabeth. Royal Museums Greenwich says she was nine years old at the time.
13. In which county is Holbeach House, where the plotters made their last stand?
Answer: Staffordshire.
14. Catesby had already taken part in a failed rebellion in 1601. Whose rebellion was it?
Answer: The Earl of Essex's (the Essex rebellion).
15. On what date was the anonymous letter delivered to Lord Monteagle?
Answer: 26 October 1605.
16. In which year did all English churches have to hold a service on 5 November?
Answer: 1606.
17. In what month of 1606 was Guy Fawkes executed?
Answer: January (31 January 1606).
18. In what year did crowds start parading an effigy and burning it on a bonfire? It was first of the Pope, not Guy Fawkes.
Answer: 1673.
Round three: the rules today
19. According to GOV.UK, what time is the cut-off for fireworks on Bonfire Night?
Answer: Midnight. On most nights it's 11pm.
20. How old do you have to be to buy "adult" fireworks?
Answer: 18.
Tie-breaker
On 5 November 2026, how many years will it be since the Gunpowder Plot?
Answer: 421. Closest wins.
Tips for running a themed round
Don't make the whole quiz themed
One themed round in a normal quiz is plenty. Some teams don't care about the Gunpowder Plot, and a whole night of it will lose them. Our post on pub quiz round ideas has plenty of other rounds to mix in.
Add a picture round
Photos you've taken yourself are safest. A sparkler, a toffee apple, a bonfire in the garden, a close-up of a firework box. Ask teams to name what it is. Pictures pulled off the internet may belong to someone else, so if you didn't take it, don't use it.
Keep it fair
Some of these answers are dates. Decide before you start whether "1605" and "sixteen oh five" are both fine (they should be), and whether a spelling slip counts. Write it down and stick to it. Our pub quiz rules post has a full set you can copy.
Mark it the same way every week
Swap sheets between tables or mark them at the bar. Whichever you do, do it the same way every week, so nobody feels hard done by on a themed night.
How StockTap TV helps
At our place in Washington, our Tuesday quiz starts at 7:30pm and the questions go up on every TV at once, with teams answering on their phones. A themed round like this one is a good fit: the host reads the question, the screens show it, and nobody at the back has to shout "what was that?". You can also run a short pre-match style quiz on the screens before your main event. See quiz night on every TV, or join the founding pubs to get it in your pub.
Frequently asked questions
How many Gunpowder plotters were there?
Thirteen, according to English Heritage and Royal Museums Greenwich, with Robert Catesby as the leader and Guy Fawkes guarding the gunpowder.
How many barrels of gunpowder were there?
Thirty-six. English Heritage and Royal Museums Greenwich both give that figure.
Can I print these questions for my pub quiz?
Yes, use them in your pub. Please don't copy the whole page onto another website. A link back is always appreciated.
How long should a themed round be?
Ten questions is about right. Twenty works if you split it into two rounds and put a normal round in between.
Sources
- Royal Museums Greenwich: What was the Gunpowder Plot?
- English Heritage: 5 things: the real story of Bonfire Night
- GOV.UK: Fireworks: the law
We checked every source on 24 October 2026. Rules change, so check the latest version before you act. Nothing here is legal advice.