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An all-out war between downtown Frederick residents broke out in Baker Park on Saturday, with swarms braving the snow to join the battle.

But there was much more laughter heard during the Frederick Snowmaggedon Snowball Fight ¨– as it was known on the Facebook page that was used to organize it – than the sounds normally associated with warfare.

Snowballs arced through the air, exploding against the band shell, or on participant's coats and faces, usually eliciting a congratulatory cheer, or an oath of revenge.

Dozens of people were still snowball fighting at close to 4 p.m., when Jamie Cacciola, Sonya Duveneck and Christopher Roberts decided to start leaving.

Cacciola said she had been snowball fighting for about 45 minutes, and Duveneck and Roberts had been there for about a half hour.

"We put in an appearance," Roberts said.

The group had heard about the snowball fight through a combination of word-of-mouth and the Facebook page, which showed nearly 400 members earlier on Saturday, Cacciola said.

Roberts said that having fun in the snow is preferable to staying at home with nothing, as might have been his fate in the snowstorm, which had dropped more than two feet of snow on Frederick by Saturday morning.

"Work's closed, so why not?" he said.

Simon Page, who also lives within walking distance of the park, was holed up in the band shell, avoiding incoming snowballs that crashed around him like mortars.

Page said that he had heard about the snowball fight through friends, and had been there since soon after it began at 2 p.m.

But two hours into the snowball fight, his resolve to continue the battle had weakened.

"It's getting to the point for some drinks," Page said.

E-mail Christian Brown at chbrown@gazette.net.