World Trivia Night is one of North America's largest live trivia contests, held annually in Ottawa, Ontario since 1995.
History
Originally organized by the Kiwanis Club of Orleans (Ottawa), World Trivia Night is now organized by the Children's Aid Foundation (CAF) of Ottawa, which uses it to fund educational and life enrichment opportunities for children and youth who are supported by the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa. The 2024 event marked the 30th anniversary of World Trivia Night (counted from 1995 when it was taken over by CAF Ottawa).
Format
Each year, roughly 1,000 people play in teams of up to 10 people. The event was originally held at the Aberdeen Pavilion, moving to the EY Centre in 2012, and then, after being held virtually in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic, Rogers Centre Ottawa (formerly the Shaw Centre) starting in 2022.
Since 2002, the event has been hosted by Paul Paquet of the Trivia Hall of Fame and the Ottawa Trivia League. Paquet also writes the questions.
Many political and media luminaries have taken part in the event. Former mayor Jacquelin Holzman once served as a judge, and in 2003, Ken Jennings read the first question via videotape. By tradition, the first answer is always Pierre Trudeau, as a tip of the hat to the long-running radio trivia contest in Stevens Point, which always begins with a question about Robert Redford.
Since 2006, the winners have been awarded the Trong Nguyen Memorial Trophy, named after a member of wirecrats.com who died earlier that year.
Winning teams
1995: The Data Banks 1996: The Bank Dicks 1997: Puzzles 1998: The Viagrins (later renamed the Smarts) 1999: Puzzles 2000: Random Access Memory 2001: La Triviata 2002: La Triviata 2003: Me and Nine Idiots (after a scoring adjustment, La Triviata shared the title) 2004: Wirecrats.com 2005: Shocked and Appalled 2006: Fran Mahovlich 2007: Shocked and Appalled 2008: La Triviata 2009: I Lost on Jeopardy 2010: Wirecrats.com 2011: Nerd Alert 2012: The Sticky Buns 2013: La Triviata 2014: Nerd Alert (although Mizar Flying Pintos was the top "champion" team) 2015: La Triviata 2016: I Lost on Jeopardy 2017: The Sticky Buns 2018: The Sticky Buns 2019: La Triviata 2020: La Triviata 2021: La Triviata 2022: Schrodinger's Cat Again 2023: Schrodinger's Cat Again 2024: Small Alternative Facts of Confederation (although Simple Minds were the top "champion" team) 2025: Trivia Troopers
Notes
References
External links Official website