The main and ritual dish for Christmas is kutia, wheat, barley or rice porridge mixed with raisins, poppy seeds, honey and nuts. Also, there must be an uzvar on the table.

During dinner at the table, you should never swear, argue or use foul language. On Christmas, all family members should be at home, children should help elders in pre-holiday preparations. It is not customary to have breakfast and lunch on January 6; a light snack is only allowed for children. You are not allowed to overeat on this day even at the festive table. It is also prohibited to engage in household chores, handicrafts, and heavy physical labor.
It is necessary to sit down at the Christmas table with the appearance of the first star, which is called the Bethlehem star. It was she who led the Magi to the baby Christ. The Holy Evening begins with prayer and the lighting of the Christmas candle. In the company of the whole family, including babies, the owner of the house blesses the dinner.

An important Christmas ritual for Holy Eve is table decoration. Traditionally, it is covered with fresh hay or straw, a little grain is poured on top and covered with a tablecloth. A clove of garlic is placed in the corners of the table under the tablecloth, which will protect the family from diseases and evil forces.
An important and constant tradition at Christmas is caroling. Carolers go out through the streets and houses, starting either from Holy Evening or from the first day of Christmas. They often carry with them a large star attached to a stick and covered with gilded paper. This star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem, which marked the birth of Jesus Christ.

Entering the yard or house, young people or children ask permission to sing carols, and when the owners agree, the carolers begin to sing congratulatory carols and act out comic scenes. Most often in such songs the owner and hostess are sung, wishes for happiness, health and prosperity are heard. At the end of the singing, the owners bring sweets or money to the carolers. Another ancient Christmas custom in Ukraine is walking with a nativity scene. A nativity scene is a mobile miniature puppet theater housed in a box, in which entire performances on the theme of Christmas were shown.

It is worth noting that the traditions of celebrating Christmas in Ukraine are not limited to a static nativity scene with dolls. The living nativity scene, in which the roles of various characters are played by living people, has also gained wide popularity in our country.