Ten trend predictions with the cultural reasoning behind each, three to five sample questions per theme, and specific hosting tips — covering AI, space tourism, climate milestones, retro internet, and more.
2026-03-24 · 11 min read
A trivia category becomes a trend when it sits at the intersection of three things: widespread cultural awareness (most people have heard of it), accessible depth (there are genuine facts to know beyond the surface), and emotional resonance (people have an opinion or a feeling about it). Climate change is a trend topic not just because it is in the news but because almost everyone has experienced it personally in some form.
What follows are ten themes predicted to define competitive trivia in 2026, with the reasoning behind each, sample questions you can use immediately, and specific hosting advice.
Why it's trending: Artificial intelligence moved from a technical abstraction to a daily experience between 2022 and 2026. The majority of adults in developed countries now use AI-generated content, AI-assisted search, or AI customer service regularly — often without realising it. This makes AI uniquely trivia-able: there are genuine facts to know (how large language models work at a conceptual level, which companies built which systems, what year key milestones occurred) alongside accessible questions about what AI can and cannot do.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: Run an "AI or human?" picture round where you display images — some AI-generated, some photographs — and teams vote on which is which. The room consistently surprises itself.
Why it's trending: The commercial space era has produced genuine milestones that are reaching a broader public audience. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are names most adults now recognize. The 2024 Artemis programme moon orbit and ongoing Starship development have kept space in mainstream news in a way it hasn't been since the Apollo era.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: "Name the rocket" visual rounds work well with this theme — show a silhouette of a rocket and ask teams to identify the programme.
Why it's trending: Climate is no longer an abstract future concern — it is documented, measured, and producing observable events that people discuss. Record temperatures, the transition to renewable energy, major international agreements, and corporate net-zero pledges all provide factual material that doesn't require specialist knowledge to engage with.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: This category has genuine emotional weight for many audiences. Keep the questions factual and avoid anything that could feel politically charged — focus on measurable milestones rather than policy debates.
Why it's trending: The early-to-mid 2010s are now genuinely retro — fifteen-plus years ago. The first wave of social media, early YouTube culture, Vine, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the dress that was blue or gold, early meme culture — all of these are now historical artefacts for an audience that is old enough to remember them and young enough to find them funny.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: This category works exceptionally well for audiences aged 25 to 40, who have strong nostalgic memories. For older or younger audiences, adjust the era accordingly.
Why it's trending: The period from 2023 to 2026 has produced an unprecedented number of record-breaking moments in women's sport across multiple disciplines. Women's football crowds, cricket audiences, and tennis viewership have reached historic highs. A culture of genuinely following and discussing women's sport has formed in a way that makes this category fair and meaningful.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: Research before each event — this category is moving quickly. Use only verified facts from the past eighteen months for maximum relevance.
Why it's trending: Culinary tourism, food delivery apps expanding to international cuisines, and food-focused social media have created broad awareness of dishes from cultures that would have been unfamiliar to mainstream audiences a decade ago. This category rewards curiosity and travel experience without requiring specialist culinary training.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: The disputed-origin questions (like Jollof rice) consistently generate the most table discussion. Build one or two of these into the round intentionally.
Why it's trending: Phishing scams, data breaches, ransomware attacks on hospitals and infrastructure, and the proliferation of two-factor authentication have made cybersecurity a daily reality for ordinary people. Questions about how these threats work and how to recognise them are genuinely useful rather than merely trivia.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: Frame this category as practical knowledge rather than technical geek content. "This round might literally save you from a scam" is a better introduction than "this round is about computers."
Why it's trending: The cultural output of 2020 to 2023 — produced during lockdowns, watched during lockdowns, discussed during lockdowns — has a specific emotional quality that audiences recognise collectively. Tiger King, Normal People, Succession, COVID-era memes, the Zoom background aesthetic: these are shared touchstones for an audience that experienced an unprecedented cultural moment.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: This category works best when played with audiences who experienced the 2020 lockdowns as adults. For younger audiences, adjust expectations — what is nostalgic for a 35-year-old is simply historical for a 22-year-old.
Why it's trending: EV ownership has crossed the early-adopter threshold in most developed markets. Charging infrastructure is a daily conversation topic. New models, range records, and infrastructure expansion generate genuine news coverage that non-specialist audiences follow.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: Include a question about charging time or range that surprises the audience — most people significantly underestimate how much EV technology has improved in the past five years.
Why it's trending: The mainstream integration of mental health language into everyday conversation has been one of the most significant cultural shifts of the 2020s. Terms like "burnout," "gaslighting," "hypervigilance," and "doom scrolling" are now used routinely by people who would not have encountered them a decade ago. This category tests whether audiences know the precise meaning of terms they use casually.
Sample questions:
Hosting tip: Brief the room before this category: "These terms have precise meanings — your everyday usage might be close but not exact." This framing manages expectations and makes the reveal of precise definitions genuinely interesting rather than frustrating.
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