Written by JamesV
The Pleasance Café & Bar is one of Edinburgh’s most iconic venues. It’s famous worldwide as a Fringe hub, but it’s also a brilliant quiz night location year-round. Premier SpeedQuizzing runs a regular quiz night here as part of the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) programme. That brings a lively, competitive crowd and a fantastic atmosphere to one of the city’s most characterful spaces.
About the night
The Pleasance SpeedQuizzing night draws a mix of students, locals, and regulars who’ve been coming back week after week. The format is fast-paced and fully inclusive: every team answers on their own device, and scores update live on screen. So there’s no waiting around for anyone to mark papers. Music rounds, picture rounds, and high-energy games keep the evening varied and the energy high throughout.
About The Pleasance
You’ll find The Pleasance just south of the Royal Mile on Pleasance Street, within the University of Edinburgh campus. Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) manages the venue. It operates as a pub and events space throughout the year — not just during the Fringe. The bar is well-stocked and the food is good. Together, the atmosphere is exactly what you want from a proper Edinburgh night out.
The EUSA connection matters: it gives the venue one of the most loyal and enthusiastic quiz crowds in the city, term after term. These are people who take the competition seriously, but they’re there primarily to have a great time — trivia knowledge optional, enthusiasm required.
This quiz only runs during the University of Edinburgh semesters each year.
When is the next quiz?
Check the Public Event Dates page for the next Pleasance quiz night date.
Also running at Teviot Social — another EUSA venue with a weekly SpeedQuizzing night. See all Premier SpeedQuizzing venues →
About the author
James has run Premier SpeedQuizzing since 2011, hosting and organising quiz nights across Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian, plus corporate and private events further afield. He writes about what makes a quiz night work, drawing on more than a decade of doing it every week.