Day of the Vara, Star Citizen’s Halloween holiday, is back for 2956. The event opened on October 21, 2026 and runs until November 9. There are three parts: a pumpkin decorating contest with a ship for the winner, the return of the Kill Collector mode in Arena Commander with a free Vanduul mask for playing two rounds, and a set of monster-themed ship paints in the store.
The free items are the point for most players. Every qualifying pumpkin entry earns The Hill Horror helmet, and two rounds of Kill Collector earn a Vanduul mask that is handed out after the event ends. Neither needs any money spent.
The story behind the holiday
In Star Citizen lore the Vara was a ship that vanished into the Hades system and never came back, leaving only rumors. Each year the lost crew are remembered with spirit cakes and iced wine, candles, costumes and stories about what waits beyond the jump point. CIG’s event page leans into it with tales of frozen pilots waking up, crews driven mad and hulls failing in the dark, and suggests wearing black and green to honor the lost. The full history is on Galactapedia if you want the background.
Pumpkin decorating contest
Carve or paint a pumpkin inspired by one of three classic monsters: Frankenstein’s monster, a vampire or a werewolf. CIG says designs should stay with those three themes, and you get bonus points for working in Star Citizen details. Every qualifying entry receives The Hill Horror helmet.
The top prize is a Day of the Vara ship with one of the event’s paints plus a full mask bundle. CIG’s event page says there are three prizes in total, described as inspired by the three monsters, so there are rewards beyond first place. Entry details are on the official Day of the Vara 2956 event page.
Kill Collector returns to Arena Commander
Kill Collector is the festival FPS mode in Arena Commander where a skeletal invasion tries to blast the living into the afterlife. It is back for the length of the event. Play two rounds and you earn a Vanduul mask. The mask is not granted instantly; CIG says it will be distributed after the event ends, so do not worry if it does not show up in your inventory right away.
Monster paints and the Halloween store
Three new paints headline the store side of the event, each tied to a monster: a monstrous Drake Vulture, a vampiric Aegis Eclipse and a lycanthropic Kruger Wolf, alongside returning paints from earlier years. They are available from October 21 through November 9.
CIG has also put together Halloween bundles and Warbond upgrades. The store listings at the time of writing included a Creature Feature Ship Pack at 595 dollars, a Lycan Duo Pack at 195 dollars, a Creature Feature three-paint pack at 27 dollars, discounted to 21.60 dollars, and single paints such as the Wolf Lycan paint at 7 dollars. Paints are cosmetic only; they change nothing about how a ship performs.
Key dates
Everything runs on the same window, so there is one date to remember.
- October 21, 2026: event, contest, Kill Collector and paints go live
- November 9, 2026: event and paint availability end
- After November 9: Vanduul masks from Kill Collector are distributed
What this means for new players
This is a good low-pressure event to start with. Arena Commander is Star Citizen’s separate arena mode, so you can earn the Vanduul mask without learning the persistent universe first, and the pumpkin contest happens entirely outside the game. The paints are tempting but they are purely cosmetic, so a new player loses nothing by skipping them and putting the money toward a ship instead. Our Star Citizen referral code guide explains how the 50,000 UEC signup bonus works and how to apply code STAR-6WPK-3K56 before you enlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
November 9, 2026. The event opened on October 21 and the paints are available for the same window.
Play two rounds of the Kill Collector mode in Arena Commander during the event. The mask is distributed after the event ends, not immediately.
Every qualifying entry earns The Hill Horror helmet. The winner receives a Day of the Vara ship with a paint and a full mask bundle, and CIG lists three prizes in total.
A Drake Vulture, an Aegis Eclipse and a Kruger Wolf paint, themed on Frankenstein’s monster, vampires and werewolves, plus returning paints from past years.
Source: Day of the Vara 2956. Details come from CIG’s Day of the Vara 2956 announcement on Spectrum, the Day of the Vara 2956 event page and This Week in Star Citizen for October 26, 2026.
