Since the early 1990s, the Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized public celebrations on Christmas Eve. The course of these celebrations can be typically divided into three parts: the preparation, the ritual, and the festivity. The preparation consists of going and cutting down the tree to be used as the "badnjak", taking it to the church yard, and preparing drink and food for the assembled parishioners. The ritual includes Vespers, placing the "badnjak" on the open fire built in the church yard, blessing or consecrating the "badnjak", and an appropriate program with songs and recitals. In some parishes they build the fire on which to burn the "badnjak" not in the church yard but at some other suitable location in their town or village. The festivity consists of getting together around the fire and socializing. Each particular celebration, however, has its own specificities which reflect traditions of the local community, and other local factors.