APPLETON (NBC 26) — The Great Midwest Trivia Contest is an esteemed tradition at Lawrence University.
"This is the 305th question of the Midwest Trivia Contest,” said one of the students helping facilitate the contest.
"Time's up, time to stop searching. This monkey question we declared, it’s time to stop searching,” said a student.
The contest has been going on for 57 years.
It all started when a student came up with the idea and all these years later the event has now grown into what it is today.
"Your time starts now. I'll read it one more time. That's the prodigious output of six, including Elmo. What have they disapproved according to Wikipedia?” said a student reading off a question.
The Great Midwest Trivia Contest @trivdilla arrives this weekend for the 57th consecutive year, built and nurtured by Lawrentians with a passion for trivia traditions that date back more than five decades!
— Lawrence University (@LawrenceUni) January 25, 2022
Anyone can play! Read all about it ⬇️ https://t.co/az2oEbJxCk
The student-produced contest began Friday night and its expected to end Sunday at midnight.
It goes through a total of approximately 50 consecutive hours worth of trivia questions.
That's why it’s considered the “World's Longest Running Trivia Contest”.
"Yeah sorry, the 50 hours are starting to set in. I've been drinking a lot of caffeine and just the environment of being with all the other trivia masters and students,” said Riley Newton, Trivia Headmaster.
Newton says there's a lot that goes into preparing for this weekend.
"I've been preparing for this contest since about a year ago and we just have more and more meetings the closer we get to January,” Newton said.
And while this contest normally takes place in person at the university, it has been going fully digital since last year.
And all weekend long, it has been broadcasted for the public through the live streaming service, Twitch.
"We put trivia masters on-air every hour and we rotate so we have different trivia masters reading out questions,” Newton said.
As this year's contest is quickly coming to a close, Newton and his classmates say they hope this tradition will be preserved for generations to come.
"I know that the founder of the contest has expressed disbelief that it has continued to go on. They didn't think it would go on past its first year but here at Lawrence we've been able to keep it going,” Newton said.
