The 12th edition of The Bhawanipur Education Society College presents Kolkata International Quiz Festival, in association with The Telegraph and Calcutta Rowing Club, and powered by knowalledge.com was organised over seven days last month. This year there were 30 quizzes hosted by 55 quizmasters from four continents. While some quizzes were held online, most of them were held offline. Some of the online quizzes included the Amitabh Bachchan quiz, All About Messi quiz, Films of Satyajit Ray quiz, Whiskeys of the World quiz, and the F.R.I.E.N.D.S Tribute quiz. Notably, the Calcutta Rowing Club has been host to the festival since its third season which then lasted for two-three days.
Srijit Mukherjee also paid a visit to the event
The festival that has evolved into one of the world’s biggest of its kind, attracted almost 10,000 quiz enthusiasts globally for the 12th edition. It has grown into a place where erudite minds who champion the thoughts of the society come together. Individuals partaking in the event include young professionals, experienced corporate employees and knowledge aficionados at large. Since KIQF introduced the festival format of quizzing, many district-based clubs and associations slowly started their own version of a quiz fest, albeit held locally. Some of these organisations are Haldia Quiz Circle, Kalyani Quizzers, Medinipur Quiz, Kendra Social Welfare Society, Nabadwip Quizzers, Dakshin Dinajpur District Quiz Association, Q For Quiz, Qui9, Quiz Lovers of Dhubulia and Uttar Dinajpur District Quiz Association.
Winners of the Bronze Plate - Soubhadra Chakraborty (3rd from left), Sanjoy Mukherjee (4th from left) and Ruru Chowdhury (4th from right)
Twelve years back, the initiative of KIQF was taken by two friends who were quizzers themselves, Anton Mookherjee and Samrat Sengupta. Earlier known as Kolkata Quiz Festival, the extensive event was renamed the Kolkata International Quiz Festival owing to the increasing number of international participants. Aanton said: “KIQF clocked a dozen editions, still it is the enthusiasm of the quizzers who flock in each year that keeps us going. This time we took a special initiative to acknowledge quiz organisations and clubs from the districts of West Bengal who have played a significant role in taking quizzing deeper into the hinterland. We hope this encourages more such clubs to mushroom across India, in the process bringing more people into quizzing.”
Winners Speak:
Every year, the festival also felicitates eminent individuals for their contribution to the world of quizzing with the Scroll of Honour. This year, the title was won by Harsha Bhogle. Previously, the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Sourav Ganguly have received the honorary title. Samanway Banerjee, winner of the Vikram Joshi Memorial Quizzer of the Year this year, said: “I have been a participant at KIQF since 2013 when I was still in school. Throughout the years I have grown as a quizzer seeing some of the finest quizzing minds of the country in action in the empty pool of CRC during KIQF. In one of these editions, I had met the late Vikram Joshi for the first time. So to emerge a winner in a quiz christened after him is indeed humbling.”
Arnab Banerjee, a heritage lover and marketing professional said: "KIQF is always an enjoyable fest, with fun as the key element and quizzing the incidental one! Having said that, winning 3 quizzes this year & hosting one were indeed added bonuses!"
Silver Plate winners: Calvin (2nd from left), Gokul S (3rd from left) and Shashwat Salgaocar (3rd from right).