It is associated with Saint Basil's day, January 1, in most of Greece, but in some regions, the traditions surrounding a cake or pita with a hidden coin are attached to Epiphany or to Christmas.

A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time, by order of age from eldest to youngest.

Many private or public institutions, such as societies, clubs, workplaces, companies, etc., cut their vasilopita at a convenient time between New Year's Day and the beginning of the Great Fast, in celebrations that range from impromptu potluck gatherings to formal receptions or balls.

Margaret Hasluck (1927) disputes the historicity of the Greek folk tradition of celebrating the feast day of St.

Hasluck arrives at this conclusion by comparing the traditions of Greek-speaking communities with the western European celebrations of the Twelfth Night and Epiphany.

According to Hasluck, the pagan holiday of the Twelve Days is the same as the Roman Saturnalia: "One feature of the Saturnalia was that men drew for a king with a bean, and held high revelry under his leadership for the duration of the festivities", which she says is the same as the Greek festival Kronia: "Consequently, with some confidence we identify the Basil of the basilopita with the basileus, the "king" of Saaturnalia".

According to one story, Basil called on the Roman citizens of Caesarea to raise a ransom payment to stop the siege of the city.

In some tellings, the sieging tribal chief is replaced with an evil emperor levying a tax or simply with Basil attempting to give charity to the poor without embarrassing them.