In a world where all that is left of Yule is the Beatles wish of a 'Cool Yule and a Gear New Year' and a chocolate cake incongruously termed a log, it is easy to forget that the 25th of December is not just a Christian festival. Yule itself was a Norse festival, celebrating the goddess Freya, but as a mid-winter festival is marked by many cultures, ancient and modern. Brewers lists the following:

Christians hold December 25th as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus.
China on the same day celebrates the birth of Buddha, son of Mâa. (Bunsen).
Druids held during the winter solstice the festival of Nolagh. (Higgins).
Egypt held that Horus, son of Isis, was born towards the close of December (Le Clerk de Septehenes).
Greece celebrated in the winter solstice the birth of Demeer (Cercs), Dionyos (Bacchus), and Herakle (Hercules).
India. Numerous Indian tribes keep Yuletide as a religious festival. (Monier Williams).
Mexico holds in the winter solstice the festival of Capacrame (History of the Indies, vol. ii. p. 354.)
Persia at the same period honours the birth of Mithras. (Gross.)
Rome celebrated on December 25th the festival "Natais Solis Invicta"
Scandinavia held at Yuletide the festival called Jul, in honour of Freya, wife of Odin.

This Yule celebration in the Tirol was described by J.V. v. Zingerle in 1857:

"The Perchtenlauf was earlier usual on the last Fasching-evening. It was a kind of masked procession. The masked ones were called Perchten. They were divided into beautiful and ugly.... The beautiful Perchten often distributed gifts. So went it loudly and joyfully, if the wild Perchte herself did not come among them. If this spirit mixed among them, the game was dangerous. One could recognize the presence of the wild Perchte when the Perchten raged all wild and furious and sprang over the well-stock. In this case the Perchten ran swiftly away from each other in fear and tried to reach the nearest, best house. For as soon as one was under a roof, the Wild One could not have them any longer. Otherwise she would tear apart anyone, who she could get possession of. Even today, one can see places where the Perchten torn apart by the wild Perchte lie buried"