There are several Christmas Eve and Day customs that remind us that Christ was born in a cave, on straw. "Vertep" among the Orthodox, "Bethlehem" or "Bethlem" among the Catholics and Greek Catholics in Vojvodina, means the reenactment of the Nativity scene and is known in several forms. In many parts of Vojvodina, processions of actors called ''vertepaši'' were known. On Christmas Eve they would visit houses and perform plays dedicated to the birth of Christ. On this occasions, a ''vertep'' was carried - a model of a church with a representation of Christ's birth. A candle was often lit inside the church.

Such processions were known among Serbs, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Romanians. It is believed that they were originally Christianized versions of the ancient winter rites. The performance of ''Vertep'' plays was known as early as the first half of the 18th century, while after the Second World War it began to die down. Nevertheless, in many places the ''Vertep'' processions have been preserved, and are organized again. Other types of ritual processions existed as well: ''zvezdari'' and ''korinđaši'' performed ritualized visits of houses. Songs were sung as an obligatory part of all these processions and, as a rule, Christ's birth on straw was mentioned.

Vertepaši, Mihajlovo (Hungarians), around 1950.