Kaleidoquiz 2009

About

Kaleidoquiz is a 26-hour team competition with trivia questions asked every six minutes, hosted by 88.5 KURE in Ames, Iowa. Additionally, the competition has events such as scavenger hunts, traveling questions, montages, and even a dancing competition.

Kaleidoquiz History

Kaleidoquiz began back in 1967. Back then the station wasn't FM, wasn't in stereo, it wasn't even KURE. The very first Kaleidoquiz was only 12 hours long, because the station went off air at midnight. However, it was already extremely popular. So many people were calling in to answer questions that the Iowa State University phone system was so congested it was near impossible to place a call on campus the entire afternoon.

As years went by and Kaleidoquiz grew in size and importance (it was once the largest radio trivia game in the world), people began to notice. National Public Radio did a story on the Kaleidoquiz phenomenon in the 1970s. During one of the famous traveling questions, over a hundred cars descended upon a small Iowa town and terrified the locals as they searched for their answer.

The ISU tradition of Kaleidoquiz has evolved over the years. Fewer teams participate than in its peak, but to make up for it, and make up for the ease the internet has added to answering the questions, Kaleidoquiz is now packed with many more sub-contests through the night. Now, while the teams are answering the normal trivia questions every 6 minutes through-out the night, they are also scrabbling to finish a scavenger hunt, trying to recognize a song or movie in the montages, or performing some odd task that is set before them.

Today, Kaleidoquiz is 26 hours long and still as crazy as ever.