BIDDEFORD — Oliver Bean had a fully equipped cardboard Batmobile at his disposal Saturday, right down to a cardboard Batphone.

But he was sure not to try to make a quick call while the cardboard sled, dubbed the Beanmobile by his family, shot down snow-covered Adams Street during the cardboard derby portion of this weekend’s WinterFest in downtown Biddeford.

Additional Images

Biddeford’s WinterFest featured a cardboard sled derby with runs on a man-made hill in the middle of downtown. That kid-again thrill of the downhill run registers on the faces of Tina Guay, left, Celeste Guay, center, and Kristy Holden of Biddeford as they get a push from the top of the Adams Street hill. Photos by John Ewing/Staff Photographer

“We don’t phone and drive, right?” the 4-year-old’s mother, Mimi Bean of Biddeford, reminded her son, whose Batmobile was designed to ride on snow, not the crime-ridden streets of Gotham City.

The cardboard derby was one of about a half-dozen events Saturday designed to pull residents of Biddeford and southern Maine from the gloom of a snowy and cold winter out into the fresh air. Saturday’s events included miniature golf, a snowshoeing trail and sledding down Adams Street, which runs by the main entrance to City Hall and the district courthouse.

Sunday’s highlight will be open skating at West Brook Skating Rink, which drew about 500 during last year’s WinterFest. There will also be more sledding, probably lasting no later than early afternoon, giving public works crews time to remove the sledding hill before a fresh round of snowfall hits Sunday night and Monday.

There will also be the almost-obligatory showing of the Disney animated film “Frozen,” at the McArthur Public Library at 2 p.m.

Among those at Saturday’s events was state Rep. Martin Grohman, D-Biddeford, who said he was happy to see his constituents out enjoying the day, which was overcast but not completely frigid, with temperatures in the high 20s.

Grohman said organizers this year didn’t have to truck snow to the downtown as they’ve had to do sometimes in the past.

This time, he said, they stored some of the mounds of snow from recent weeks in the parking lot of a downtown bank, ready to be moved into place for the sledding hill on Adams Street.

“They called it a snowbank,” he joked.

Delilah Poupore, executive director of the Heart of Biddeford, a downtown economic revitalization effort, said the event is building up steam in its fourth year. Beside drawing out people for fun, she said, it also gives local businesses a little extra activity during one of the slowest times of the year.

Or, as Mimi Bean put it, “If you’re going to have to live through the winter, you might as well have some fun with it.”

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