Churchill, MB is to the northern lights what Broadway is to musical theatre: the shows are big, the actors are reliable and you never know when you’re going to encounter an award-winning performance.

The plain little port community, about 1,760 km north of Winnipeg, MB, on the edge of iconic Hudson Bay, is arguably the best place in the world to view the lights, aka Aurora Borealis. Centered under the northern “auroral oval,” this is the region with the highest and most intense auroral activity. Basically, the sun spits electrically charged particles at the earth causing the fabled spine-tingling kaleidoscopic light show, which peaks in the winter months. When that solar saliva trickles into the upper atmosphere and excites oxygen and nitrogen, the results are colourful, to say the least.

There are several options for viewing the lights. The warmest way is to visit the Aurora Domes, a former National Research Council observatory. A small, heated structure between the town and the airport, the facility’s main draw is two Plexiglas domes around 4 m wide (14 ft). About 10 can pack into the domes for a relatively clear view of the sky above. The other alternative is to leave the lights of town behind and head out onto the frozen landscape in a tundra buggy. If you want to catch the show from the outdoor viewing platform, remember to dress like a polar bear.

A good source is the Churchill Chamber of Commerce’s website, with info on travel planning and lodging, as well as tour operators, such as Frontiers North Adventures (www.frontiersnorth.com) or Churchill Wild (www.churchillwild.com).