More and more state institutions, private firms, organizations, and clubs joined the procession each year, and the event began to take on the character of a public holiday. During the 1930s, the laying of "badnjak" on the fire became a court ritual. It was performed, in the presence of the royal family, by representatives of the army in the Royal Palace's room with a fireplace. At the end of the 1930s in some parts of Yugoslavia, especially Vojvodina and Montenegro, the military "badnjak" ceremony was performed not in the barracks yard but in a square in the garrison town. An open fire was built, on which the "badnjak" was placed by an Orthodox priest in the presence of soldiers and citizens. This tradition, symbolizing the unity of state, church, and people, was ended by the outbreak of World War II.